


9 Months

by when_you_know_you_know



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Best Friends, F/F, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Motherhood, Secret Crush, Unplanned Pregnancy, shared motherhood, supportive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-05-21 18:12:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 35,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14920370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/when_you_know_you_know/pseuds/when_you_know_you_know
Summary: Beca and Chloe had known one another for seven years, had lived together for six, and had shared a bed here in Brooklyn for three years. They knew everything about each other. Until one day Beca notices her best friend acting a little far from her usual bubbly bright self. And that's when she begins to wonder what's going on..





	1. Out of sorts...

Beca knew when Chloe wasn’t feeling great. Chloe was bright beams of sunshine and always smiled at people or had a beautiful calm resting face the rest of the time. But because Beca and Chloe had known one another for seven years, had lived together for six, and had shared a bed here in Brooklyn for three years, Beca knew each and every one of Chloe’s smiles.

So she - woman who was normally completely oblivious most things - could immediately sense something was off the moment she got up for work. Beca had made her best friend’s morning tea for her as usual, placing it down on her bedside table before giving her a gentle nudge awake. But when Chloe’s eyes had flickered open she could tell they weren’t sparkling up at her as brightly as usual.

She didn’t say anything about it though. She just mumbled a “You ‘kay?” having never been much of a morning person that it was a miracle she was talking at all. And Chloe had shrugged, let out a long heavy sigh, and closed her eyes again. Beca had been running late for work already, so placed a kiss on her best friend’s forehead before dashing out of the studio apartment, muttering a “See you this evening.”

Beca didn’t get the normal string of texts from Chloe that she’d become accustomed to. So she left work on time (for once) and darted home. On her way she happened to  _bump into_  Chloe who was just stepping off her subway, having taken it home from her internship at a farm just out of the city.

“Hey!” Beca said with a grin, and Chloe smiled back at her, echoing her greeting with a little less gusto. And to many this smile would seem bright and sunny and as though nothing were wrong. But Beca  _knew_  Chloe. And she  _knew_  her smiles. Something was wrong.

But Beca wasn’t the type of person to pursue an issue if she sensed it. So she settled for walking alongside her best friend while they headed for their favourite coffee shop that happened to be between the subway station and their apartment block. Beca had watched the way Chloe had given their order, with a forced grin on her beautiful face, and a tone that oozed vulnerability. And Beca  _hated_  it.

The two best friends stood in awkward silence as they waited for their order, Chloe looking over at the artwork on the walls while twiddling the rings on her fingers while Beca kept her eyes on Chloe, trying to work out what was wrong. But again she didn’t mention anything. What could she possibly say?

The walk home was excruciatingly quiet, both politely asking then answering about their days. But there was no excitement in their voices. There was no chemistry between them like there normally was. And Beca felt sad and confused. She hadn’t realised how much she depended on Chloe’s bright and bubbly nature to fuel a happy conversation.

They trudged up the stairwell to their floor in silence, Beca leading the way because Chloe had set a pace that was far too slow even for Beca. And she heard the redhead let out a heavy sigh while she unlocked the apartment door for them. For the first time ever, Beca was sheepish, setting down her coffee cup on the kitchen table while Chloe chose to shrug off her boots and jacket then sit on the bed, tucking her knees up to her chest while she picked sadly at her tea cup. She looked like she was about to burst into tears, and Beca felt her heart lurch.

“Dude, what’s going on?” Beca eventually asked, cutting the atmosphere with a knife with her cautious words. If Chloe didn’t provide any information right now then she’d be completely at a loss of what to do. But Chloe drew her eyes up to her best friend who stood nervously by the kitchen table, and shook her head gently.

“I-I just feel…really  _sad_  at the moment.” Chloe said in a quiet voice, and Beca completely believed her as the redhead continued, “Like my chest feels tight and I want to burst into tears but I just don’t feel comfortable doing it because I don’t want to make anyone feel awkward.”

Beca swallowed loudly. Yeah, it  _would_  be weird if Chloe suddenly burst into tears.

“Is it me?” Beca asked quietly after a few cautious beats, “Have I done or said something to make you feel sad?”

Chloe’s eyes immediately snapped up to look at Beca, clearly panicky that that was the impression she’d given her best friend, “Oh God no! No you’re…” there was a pause and Beca thought she saw Chloe’s shoulders relax slightly with a sigh, “…you’re wonderful.” she finished quietly, looking back down at her takeout cup of tea.

Beca had no idea what was going on. But it must’ve been bad if it had got Chloe Beale - sunshine and rainbows - looking like a lost and vulnerable puppy. So the brunette slowly made her way over to the fold-out bed they shared, and sat at Chloe’s feet, waiting patiently for her best friend to say more.

She could see tears brimming in Chloe’s eyes, the redhead clearly running over  _something_  in her mind, and Beca was beginning to wonder how long they could both sit here like this until suddenly Chloe broke the silence with two words that Beca hadn’t ever expected her to say at this moment in time.

“I’m pregnant.” Chloe said in a quiet voice, finally looking back up at her best friend, “That guy I hooked up with after that party the other week..I can’t remember if we used protection or not and…well clearly we didn’t.”

Beca felt her breath get caught in her lungs, her heart ramming against her chest. Pregnant. Fuck. This would be it for them then. They’d no longer be living together because Chloe would have to make a big decision, which would probably end up her moving back home to her parents to raise her unborn baby. There was no way Chloe would terminate it. Beca knew Chloe that much, she knew her best friend wouldn’t. She knew her best friend had always craved becoming a mother. And Beca had to keep her job here in New York. So she couldn’t exactly move down to Florida with her, no matter how much she wanted them to continue living together.

“Wha-…” Beca began before clearing her throat, “Is that why you’re feeling sad?”

Chloe appeared to pause as she thought through her answer, and Beca hadn’t realised that her own hand had found its way to Chloe’s foot, her thumb gently stroking over the woman’s sock.

“I’m not sad about that exactly.” Chloe replied slowly, picking at the nail varnish that was chipping on her index finger. Her blue eyes flickered back up to Beca and she sighed with a shrug, “I think I’m just sad because this wasn’t how I envisioned it.”

Beca was a little confused, “Um..envisioned what?”

“Falling pregnant.” Chloe said with a sad sigh, looking back down at her take-out cup and sipping from it, “I always thought I’d be married, and that me and my partner would find out together gathered around a positive pregnancy test and we’d be so excited…”

Beca couldn’t help feeling sad for her best friend, Chloe now picking at her nail varnish again with tears still brimming in her eyes, “…I want to feel excited about this, Beca. I want to have a happy pregnancy.” And Beca felt her heart skip a beat when Chloe’s eyes found hers again, and a tear rolled down the redhead’s cheek, “But how can I have a happy pregnancy when I’ll be alone?”

“Who says you’ll be alone?”

Chloe appeared to raise her eyebrows at Beca’s rhetorical question but Beca continued, “I mean it! I’m gonna be around when I can and there’s no way The Bellas will let you get away with going through this alone, Chloe. We’d totally help out.”

“Right, yeah, and I’ll just happily find some sort of ‘sheltered living’ where single mothers go when they have no job prospects or income. There’s no way Mom and Dad will be happy with me turning up on their doorstep pregnant  _and_  single, with no job prospects.” Chloe said in an uncharacteristically deadpan voice, resuming her focus on her drink, “Forever the failure.” Beca’s stomach scrambled. She hated it when Chloe sounded like this. As though she was seeped of all hope. Of all energy and life. But this  _wasn’t_  going to be the end of the world.

Beca took a deep breath. She needed to clear her head a bit. Try to make sense of the things that were starting to bubble to the forefront of her mind.

“I need to pop out for a few minutes.” she said as she stood up from the bed and wandered over to pull her headphones out of her handbag, “Um…don’t go anywhere, yeah?”

The last thing Beca saw before she walked out of the apartment was Chloe looking up at her in mild confusion while nodding slowly. She still remained tucked up on their bed. She still looked small and vulnerable.

If the shoe were on the other foot then Chloe would’ve immediately insisted on pulling Beca into a tight hug. But Beca still wasn’t much of a hugger. Not when she was as emotionally confused as the person she needed to ‘comfort’.

The brunette trickled down the stairwell of the apartment block and out into the fresh air. She paused and took a deep intake of breath, closing her eyes as she pulled her headphones over her ears then focussed her attention on her phone, bringing up Spotify to find a good playlist to help her zone out. She landed on Vance Joy’s Album ‘ _Nation of Two_ ’

As ‘ _[Call If You Need Me](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fopen.spotify.com%2Ftrack%2F0tp63L82d21GTlvZuKSHGY%3Fsi%3DuXOpkB07R9CMwC_UTKXkyg&t=ZTM3NWE3ZmE2Yzk3ZTMwZjczZDU1ZWY3NTg0OTQzMDJkMTk4YmQ5YSw0YWMwNWRhZmQzNzkyNGUzMTVkOWEwNjQ0NDdjMDJhNmNjYTcxZTli)_ ’ began to play Beca took another deep breath and began to wander down the street. She had no idea where she was headed. Had no idea how long she would be. But all she knew was she needed to walk and listen to her music and  _think_.

By the time ‘ _[Lay It On Me](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fopen.spotify.com%2Ftrack%2F7oekneJCJO74ycdLzdk16v%3Fsi%3Dklp4qfZUQ_6l44pQKKZ-pA&t=NGRmNmFiMDcxNWY0NTU3MmI1NzI1ZGE5Mjk0ZDMwNjYxNzRkMDNmZCxhZmNlZTA0NGNjMTkwODY1YTFmMGI2ZDkxMjJkYjUzZDU0MGI0NmRi)_ ’ was almost finished, Beca had found tears slipping from her eyes. Because she’d realised the only way she could possibly persuade Chloe to stay would be to offer to help her with her pregnancy and raising her child. But she wasn’t scared at the prospect of there being an extra mouth to feed in the apartment - she’d totally be able to earn enough money for them. The thing that scared Beca the most was that she was potentially going to be a role model to Chloe’s baby in some way. She was going to have an influential part in this child’s life if Chloe raised it with Beca.

What if Beca wasn’t good enough?

With a heavy sigh Beca paused her music, tugged her headphones from her phone, and dialled a number. If she was going to get an honest answer from anyone it would be Aubrey Posen.

“Hey Beca, everything okay?” Aubrey said suspiciously, and Beca cleared her throat loudly, not wanting to sound like she’d been crying.

“Uh yeah, I just need to ask you a question. And I want an honest answer..”

“You know me. Honest to the very end.” Aubrey replied seriously, clearly a little concerned by Beca’s quick reason for the call.

“Do you think I’d ever make a good Mom?” Beca asked, feeling incredibly vulnerable with the sensitivity of the topic, and she heard Aubrey take an intake of breath.

“Yeah of course. Um…wait, what are your feelings towards children?”

Beca hesitated. Fuck. She wasn’t overly keen on them. She didn’t really  _know_ any kids to be fair. She knew a cute kid when she saw one, and she certainly noted it to herself. “They’re alright I guess? I’m impartial.”

“Oh…um…well I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with kids before.” Was the quick answer and Beca slowed her pace down, disappointed. “But that’s not to say you wouldn’t make a good Mom, Beca.” Beca swallowed loudly as she approached the corner of her street and Aubrey continued rambling, “It’s a totally different ball game when you have your own apparently. So with that in mind I bet you’d be a great Mom in your own way.”

It wasn’t exactly the best answer in the world, but it was an honest one that Beca was after. And Aubrey had  _definitely_  given her an honest answer.

“Wait. You’re not pregnant are you??” Aubrey asked with some caution and Beca quickly replied.

“Oh no! No no! God no. I just..it was something I was thinking about earlier..the whole being a Mom thing and if I would ever do a good job. That’s all.” Beca scored shapes in the dirt with the heel of her boots while she remained on the phone, patiently waiting for Aubrey’s answer.

“Well from what Chloe tells me you make her a really good cup of tea in the morning? And you’ve kept up with the rent-“

“-I’m no expert but I think there’s more to parenting than making tea and paying rent Aubrey.” Beca said with a roll of her eyes, but Aubrey was quick to snap back.

“No but my point is, you’re good at taking responsibility, Beca. You care for Chloe really well while she’s doing this internship and you’ve taken Amy in and she’s been living with you guys for a couple of years now-“

“-Yeah only because she won’t leave-“

“-You’re good at caring even if you don’t realise, Beca. And to be a good Mom you have to care, both for your child and the person you have your child with.”

Beca furrowed her brow at Aubrey’s choice of words, surprised she had said ‘person’ instead of ‘guy’. But she let it slide, “Thanks Aubrey.”

“No worries, Beca. Hope that was the answer you were looking for.”

“Yeah. Yeah I guess it was.” Beca said cheerfully, then ended the call. Good old Aubrey and her honesty. And Beca turned back to the street, crossing to the other side so she could dart into a nearby store.

-

About a half hour later Beca stepped back into the apartment with a light sigh, a couple of carrier bags in her hands and her headphones over her ears while she listened to ‘[ _Take Your Time_](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fopen.spotify.com%2Ftrack%2F0fqjy5gVNVmQQmxOLLfb3c%3Fsi%3DTnD8zZ7kR1K2NPli_hnfww&t=ZGE2ZmY4YmVmMjQ2N2QzNzBkODg3ODdjMzhmNjAyZDdjNTQ0ZWVkMCxmZTYxZjFlNjRjNGE1MGJjMmY4NGEyODk0NGEyYjI0NTZjYThkMGVk)’. She closed the door over, nudging her headphones from her ears while she looked over at her best friend.

Chloe hadn’t really moved from the position she’d been in when Beca had left. But she’d clearly been crying very hard. And Beca felt a mixture of guilt and peace. Guilty because she probably shouldn’t have just upped and left Chloe so quickly. Peace because leaving the apartment had helped her gain some perspective. Everything was going to be okay.

“Alright, sorry I took so long.” She said with another sigh, placing the bags down on the kitchen table, “I just had to think some stuff through but I’m good now.” And she turned her body towards her best friend and looked at Chloe seriously, a massive tub of the redhead’s favourite ice cream in her hand. Chloe loved ice cream. “I got you ice cream.”

She watched in delight as a watery smile spread across Chloe’s face, “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Oh yeah I did.” Beca replied seriously, wandering over to a kitchen draw to pull out a spoon, “Times like this is why ice cream was invented, dude.” And she strode over to Chloe, picking up one of the bags on her way. Beca resumed her position at the bottom of Chloe’s feet and held out the tub of ice cream and the spoon.

She saw Chloe bite her bottom lip while taking the tub and spoon, clearly pleased with this tiny glimpse of light that the ice cream provided. And while Chloe began tucking in, Beca’s heart began to race. Because what she was about to say next would change their friendship forever. Would change their future.

“So I’ve been doing some thinking.” Beca eventually said, and Chloe paused with a nervous expression on her face, “I reckon the crib would look pretty good right here.” and she motioned to a small section of the studio apartment, next to Chloe’s side of the bed (and in front of where Beca was sat now), where a small armchair currently stood.

“And I’ll chuck all my crap in a big box and stick it over there,” she continued, motioning with her thumb to the little amount of room beside her side of the bed, “to free up some space for the baby’s clothes and toys and stuff.”

Beca’s heart began to swell as she noticed a smile slowly creep onto Chloe’s face the more she spoke, “And I know we live in Brooklyn which is an expensive place to raise a kid on only one income but…well I just sorted that deal with my label to produce Bieber’s next record so I’ll get loads of money from that and we’ll be able to live comfortably for a while on that money alone-“

“-Beca.”

Beca paused as she heard Chloe interrupt her and she looked into her best friend’s eyes that were already tearing up again.

“A-Are you saying you’re okay with me raising my baby here?”

“I’m saying I’m okay with  _us_  raising  _our_  baby here.” Beca said seriously, having spent a good thirty minutes thinking about how difficult but how cool it would be to raise a child with her best friend. “Only if you’d want me to.” She added cautiously.

But Chloe just smiled at her, as though a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders, until a flicker of hesitation appeared on her face, “But what about your love life? Wouldn’t you struggle if you had to tell your dates that you were raising a child with your friend?”

“Best friend.” Beca corrected causing Chloe to let out a small huff of air.

“Okay,  _best_  friend. Doesn’t that worry you?”

Beca just shrugged, a soft smile sweeping over her face, “If they have a problem with it then why would I bother wasting my time with them?” Chloe hesitated, biting her bottom lip, so Beca reached down to rummage in the bag, “I mean it Chloe. I’ll be there for you. Through all of this. I’ll go to the doctors appointments and birthing classes with you if you need me to. I’ll be your birthing partner if you want me to. I’ll get up in the night to try to get the baby back to sleep so you can hopefully get some rest. I’ll do everything you’ll need me to do. I’ll do this  _with_  you if you really want.”

The apartment fell silent and for a moment Beca feared Chloe would say no. That she would move out and return to her family in Florida, even though The Beale’s weren’t exactly a joy to be around. And Beca would be the one left alone. To live her sorry sad miserable lonely life here in Brooklyn.

“Okay.” Chloe mumbled quietly, with an affectionate smile, and Beca’s heart rose.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Let’s have a baby.” Chloe said with a broad smile on her face, and Beca couldn’t help the smile on her own. She and Chloe were gonna be such an awesome parenting team.

“Alright well before we decide that we have to check that you’re definitely pregnant.” Beca said suddenly serious, and Chloe’s smile dropped.

“Oh..but I already-“ but Chloe’s sentence stopped as Beca pulled a pregnancy test kit out of the bag she’d brought to the bed with her. The redhead let out a light giggle as Beca grinned at her.

“We gotta huddle around this together once you’ve done it and get excited right?”

But instead of taking the test from her hand, Beca let out a light “oof” while her best friend dove forward and threw her arms around her neck, hugging her tight. Beca chuckled happily, bringing her arms around Chloe’s waist to hug her back.

Yeah she wasn’t much of a hugger. But right now, she was fairly certain that this was the best hug she’d ever had. Partially because this was such a happy occasion, and partially because she had managed to help Chloe feel a million times better than she had felt earlier.

They were just best friends. But they were going to raise a baby together.

This was going to be interesting…


	2. Over-Protective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beca checks in on Fat Amy to see how Chloe is doing...

Chloe let out a light giggle, her phone up to her ear while she sat at the kitchen table, mid-way through a large portion of macaroni cheese. The redhead was eleven weeks into her unplanned pregnancy. And despite having initially feared that she would have to either go into sheltered accommodation for pregnant women who had no job prospects, or worse have to move back down to Portland to live with her judgemental parents, she had actually been provided a lifeline in the form of her best friend who had insisted that they could do this whole ‘pregnancy, then birth, then raising a child’ thing together.

Beca had been the last person Chloe had expected to willingly take on this role. But Beca had also been the last person Chloe had expected to surprise her. And surprise her she did.

Ever since Beca and Chloe had agreed that they would still live in this studio apartment together and that Chloe would still do her internship where possible and that Beca would still be the main breadwinner, they had somehow become  _closer_. Beca had gone full protection mode. To the point that even Fat Amy - their roommate - had noticed.

_”What’s going on?” Amy asked with a furrowed brow as she sat up on her bed while looking over at Beca and Chloe who were sat on their fold-out bed together - Chloe laid on her side groaning slightly while Beca rubbed her back._

_”Chloe feels sick.” Beca replied simply._

_”Yeah I got that much, I meant since when did you start rubbing people’s backs?”_

_Chloe turned to face Beca and Fat Amy with a wince while Beca mumbled that she didn’t have to move if she didn’t want to, and the redhead looked up at her best friend who she was now tucked into. They appeared to communicate without any words and eventually Chloe nodded gently._

_”Chloe’s pregnant.” Beca said with a sigh, looking over at Amy as the Australian’s face opened up into one of shock._

_”Oh my God! How??”_

_”Well when a boy and a girl find themselves sexually attracted to one another…” Beca began in her usual sarcastic tone, which had caused a tiny giggle to escape from Chloe’s mouth, and had caused Fat Amy to roll her eyes._

_”I know HOW, I just meant how did you let this happen Chloe? I didn’t even think you were seeing anyone.” Fat Amy replied with little tact, and Chloe coiled into herself slightly, playing with the hem of Beca’s plaid shirt while the brunette remained sat up in their fold-out bed._

_”I wasn’t seeing anyone Amy.” Chloe replied in a quiet voice, feeling embarrassed, “I was drunk. He was drunk. It just…sorta happened.”_

_”Woah.” was all Amy responded with, causing Beca to glare at her._

_”DUDE!” Beca hissed in a disapproving tone, “Be a little nicer, yeah?”_

The thing with Beca being the main breadwinner was that the woman was taking on as many projects as she could  _now_  so that as Chloe’s due date approached she spent less time at work and could spend more time at home to take care of her. Then to help take care of the baby once it had arrived. Which was why Beca wasn’t in Brooklyn with Chloe at that exact moment in time. She was in LA at a recording studio trying to help produce Justin Bieber’s new record. And the brunette had called Chloe every opportunity she got to check her best friend was okay. It was day two of Beca’s eight day trip. Chloe was missing her, but it sounded as though Beca was missing her more.

She had to admit, if it hadn’t been for Beca’s involvement and heightened organisation in recent weeks, Chloe would’ve failed to have felt excited about the prospect of becoming a mother. But the more Beca talked about their future in this apartment once the baby had arrived, the more excited Chloe became.

After the reveal to Amy, they’d both given her strict instructions  _not_  to tell any of the other Bellas about Chloe’s pregnancy until Chloe’s twelve week scan. Which the woman attempted for two days until she almost cracked when Aubrey came to visit one weekend and Chloe was forced to tell Aubrey before the Australian did. Aubrey had of course been thrilled for Chloe, then had quizzed Beca a bit, wondering if that had been the reason why she’d called her about motherhood several weeks earlier. Fortunately Amy now had someone to talk to about the whole situation outside of the apartment which made for a much easier atmosphere  _inside_  the apartment.

“…and Amy’s not left you on your own overnight, right?” Beca asked down the phone in concern, causing Chloe to giggle gently again.

“No.” She replied, looking up from the macaroni that Fat Amy had rustled up for her, and over to the Australian who was busy folding Chloe’s fresh laundry for her, “She’s been brilliant Beca. Really.”

“Are you sure? Because I wrote her a list of things she had to be aware of before I left.”

Chloe was fully aware of the list. It was pinned up on the fridge with a bunch of magnets - Amy claiming that if she could see it at eye level against the place she visited the most in the apartment then she’d definitely remember them. But it was a list that Chloe felt was highly unnecessary. She could totally do her own laundry and prepare her own meals, it just took her a little longer to do them because she was so exhausted. This pregnancy was really seeping the energy from her.

“Don’t worry, the list is on the fridge as we speak and Amy’s been following it like a manual.” Chloe tried to assure her best friend down the phone, but she looked over at Amy with a grin while the blonde stared at her in disbelief that Beca was questioning her ability to care for the redhead.

“Okay. Well…” Beca began, clearly becoming distracted by whoever had walked into the studio she was sat in, “…you’ll tell me if she doesn’t, right? Promise me you’ll call.”

Chloe let out another light giggle, before softly replying, “I promise.”

“I gotta go, but I’ll call you before you go to sleep yeah?”

“Looking forward to it.” Chloe added in a quiet voice, an affectionate smile on her face while she pushed her fork into another couple of macaroni pieces. She ended the call and took another mouthful.

So Chloe had totally had a crush on Beca back in college. Like, all her thoughts had been on the brunette. Her heart had physically hurt over the years that she’d pined over her while Beca had been with her boyfriend at the time, Jesse. But Chloe had settled for moving up to New York with Beca and Fat Amy instead, pushing down those feelings so she could enjoy Beca’s friendship.

Since telling Beca about her pregnancy though, all of her romantic feelings for the woman had become all encompassing again - and Chloe wasn’t sure if it was because Beca had become the perfect ‘partner’ that a first time mother-to-be required, or if it was because her hormones were up by about a billion percent thanks to this pregnancy.

The redhead looked up from her food as Fat Amy’s phone began ringing, and a curious smile swept across her face when Amy paused her laundry folding and let out a groan, answering the call in an unenthusiastic fashion, “Beca, what now??”

Chloe bit her bottom lip as Amy rolled her eyes at her while Beca said something down the phone to her, though Chloe couldn’t hear what.

“ _Yes_  I  _am_  taking care of her just like you said…No…I…I  _won’t_  poison her with my cooking…Well she’s eating my macaroni just fine right now!” Amy said in a loud exasperated tone into the phone, and Chloe couldn’t help the small smile on her face. “Look if you call me to remind me about that stupid list one more time then I’ll walk out of this apartment and leave Chloe to fend for herself for the next week!” Amy yelled, pausing before replying with an annoyed, “I will! Do you want me to prove it?”

Chloe watched in amusement as Beca appeared to apologise to Amy down the phone, and the Australian seemed to relax in demeanour somewhat, “See, that wasn’t so difficult. Now stop freaking out like Chloe’s your wife and you’re the father of her baby. She’s fiiine!”

And Amy ended the call presumably before Beca could say anything more. The blonde threw her phone onto her bed and picked up one of Chloe’s large sweaters that the redhead had unfortunately puked over a little during a bad bout of morning sickness this morning. Amy had been amazing. Had got out of bed, trundled over to the toilet which Chloe had been hanging her head over, and had held the woman’s hair away from her face while smoothing the palm of her hand back and forth across Chloe’s back. This was normally Beca’s job, but Amy was obeying rule number seven on Beca’s list of ‘ _Things You’ll Have To Do While I’m Away, Amy_!’.

Chloe had been rather overwhelmed with how attentive Amy had been actually. The Australian was renowned for only ever looking out for number one. But since Beca and Chloe had told her that Chloe was pregnant, Amy had actually been home a lot more, offering to do more around the apartment. Something that was a relief to both Beca and Chloe, who  _had_  been worried about the very real likelihood of having to support both a newborn baby and Fat Amy…

“So don’t be surprised if Beca calls you again soon to check that I haven’t thrown you out of the apartment and locked the door…” Amy grumbled, still folding Chloe’s laundry.

“Sorry.” Chloe said in a guilty tone but Amy just shrugged, not looking back over at her.

“It’s not your fault. She’s just over-protective because she likes you.”

And Chloe’s breath caught in her throat while she watched Amy take some of the clothes she’d already folded, over to Beca and Chloe’s fold-out bed, placing them on the bed covers before resuming her original position.

Beca likes her. What did Amy mean by that? Like, Beca likes her more than she likes strangers? Like, Beca likes her as a friend? Or…did it mean Beca likes her as  _more_  than a friend? Like, Beca was  _in love_  with her? Just like Chloe was in love with Beca…

But before Chloe could press the matter further Fat Amy’s phone rang again and the opportunity disappeared. The blonde picked up her phone and let out a small groan, “Aubrey I’m trying to fold laundry here… _yes_  I  _know_  how to fold laundry!”

Chloe finished what she could of her macaroni that had now gone cold and took her plate over to the sink while Amy continued to chat to Aubrey, who from the sounds of things had just had a call from Beca, “…Well that’s because Beca doesn’t believe I can do a good job looking after her frikkin’ girlfriend, that’s why!” And Chloe couldn’t help the small smile on her face. She liked the way that sounded. Her being Beca’s girlfriend. “Yeah of course I’m joking Aubrey, there’s no way I would’ve found out about them being together and  _not_  be able to tell you guys!”

Chloe washed her plate and cutlery up, then turned to look at Amy who had taken a seat on the end of her bed, looking harassed, “…Aubrey, Chloe is fine, the baby is fine, Beca is unnecessarily panicking…well you can talk to her right now if you want, I’ve not left the apartment once today, as per instruction of Captain Mitchell!”

Amy stood suddenly from her bed, looking decidedly annoyed, and she strode over to Chloe with her phone outstretched, “Aubrey wants to check you’re okay.” the blonde grumbled, and Chloe took the phone with a small smile, placing a reassuring hand on Amy’s shoulder before wandering over to her fold-out bed and sitting up on her side.

“Hey Bree, everything alright?”


	3. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beca returns home from LA...

Beca honestly couldn’t get her key in the door to her studio apartment quick enough. Eight days away from Chloe had been the worst, especially when she’d left the responsibility of looking out for her best friend with Fat Amy. It wasn’t that the blonde wasn’t a grown up about some things. It’s just that Beca struggled with the idea of leaving  _anyone_  to take care of Chloe, particularly when the redhead had had pretty extensive morning sickness when Beca had had to leave for LA on her eight day business trip.

The petite woman threw herself into the apartment with a big grunt and paused, her heart beating a little with how quickly she’d dashed up the stairs. She wouldn’t feel okay until she saw Chloe with her own eyes. And she let out a sigh of relief when she noticed Chloe was stood by the cooker, making something for dinner.

The redhead wore her favourite slim-fit top that Beca realised, having been away for a week, now showed off Chloe’s small baby bump. And the sight of the pregnant woman who she’d been thinking about nonstop since leaving the apartment eight days ago, had Beca’s heart skipping a beat. She couldn’t work out why, but she settled with assuming it was because she felt  _relieved_ to see Chloe still alive and in one piece.

Chloe let the wooden spoon clatter into the pan as she dropped it, turning to look at Beca with a massive grin, “You’re back!”

“I’m baaack!” Beca called out in delight, slamming the door behind her before striding over to Chloe as Chloe strode over to her and the two best friends threw their arms around each other.

“I missed you so much.” Chloe said with a calm sigh the moment she felt Beca’s arms around her waist.

“I missed you so much too.” Beca mumbled into her neck before pulling out of the hug, her hands drawing their way around to Chloe’s stomach, and the brunette looked down at it, “Both of you.”

Chloe felt butterflies racing around her stomach in delight as she heard the affection in Beca’s voice. Fat Amy had a point, Beca  _did_  act as though she was the father to Chloe’s unborn child. But Chloe didn’t care. In fact, she  _loved_  it. Because she was secretly very much in love with Beca. Not that the brunette would ever feel the same way about her.

“So how are you feeling about the scan tomorrow, dude?” Beca asked with an excitable grin, having not realised she’d taken hold of Chloe’s hands and held them by their sides, “Excited? Nervous? Worried?”

“Excited I think.” Chloe said then took a deep shaky breath, “I guess I just don’t know what to expect.”

“Well neither do I so we’ll both have that in common.” Beca replied, letting go of Chloe’s hands to return to her suitcase by the door, “Oh I got you something by the way.”

Chloe watched with a curious expression, biting her bottom lip while Beca pulled her suitcase up onto the fold-out bed they shared and unzipped it. Her eyes traced the length of her best friend’s beautiful body. The one she’d admired and adored for years. The one she so desperately wanted to hug again. Chloe couldn’t wait until tonight, when they finally settled down to go to sleep. Beca had been ‘big spoon’ over the past couple of months since finding out Chloe was pregnant, and Chloe had missed the feel of Beca’s hands resting protectively over her stomach while they both fell asleep.

“Now, it’s nothing big, but I thought it was so cool that I couldn’t not get it.”

Beca was a little nervous and a little excited. She didn’t want to go making any assumptions, but she and Chloe had been talking about raising Chloe’s unborn child together for several weeks now, ever since Beca found out that Chloe was pregnant. Naturally her mind was on Chloe and this baby nonstop. So when she’d passed a baby store in LA she couldn’t resist…

“ _I love my Mom’s_ ” Chloe read the front of the baby grow that Beca had pulled out of the suitcase and held up to show her. There was a pause and for a moment Beca was worried that perhaps Chloe hated it. That perhaps the time that she’d been away had given Chloe time to think about their future with this child and had decided that she  _could_  raise it alone without Beca.

But to Beca’s relief a massive smile swept over Chloe’s face, tears tainting her eyes while she stepped forward and reached out for the baby grow, “It’s perfect!” She croaked, her voice breaking due to the happy tears now rolling down her cheeks.

“Wait.” Beca said, holding her finger up, “It gets better.” And she dove back down into the suitcase while Chloe inspected the baby grow a little closer.

Chloe had been getting a little more excited with each passing day, her stomach growing that little bit more and her nausea lessening. But seeing this tiny bit of clothing - her baby’s  _first_  bit of clothing - added to the excitement. And that bit of clothing openly bragging that her baby would have two mom’s? Well that was the icing on the cake. Because it was physical evidence that Beca  _was_  committed to the idea of helping to raise Chloe’s child with her. She was committed to the idea of also becoming a Mom, even though babies and children often terrified her.

“I also got us these.” And Beca held up two matching t-shirts that were like that of ‘Thing 1’ and ‘Thing 2’ in Dr Seuss’s ‘The Cat In The Hat’, except on one of the t-shirts (the slightly bigger one that was presumably Chloe’s) it had the words ‘ _Mom 1_ ’ printed on it, and the other t-shirt (made to suit Beca’s petite body) had the words ‘ _Mom 2_ ’ printed on it.

“Now I get that they’re pretty cheesy but I figured why not be a little bit cheesy for our-“ but Beca’s sentence was interrupted as Chloe threw her arms around Beca’s neck and hugged her hard, bursting into tears.

“I love them so muuuch!” Chloe wailed, causing Beca to let out a small chuckle as her arms wrapped around Chloe’s body again. She peered over her best friend’s shoulder and noticed Fat Amy sat on her double bed, watching them with a grin.

“Hey Amy.” Beca said, bringing a hand from Chloe’s waist to give her a wave, and Amy waved back, “Thanks for looking after them this week.”

“Them?” Amy asked in a confused tone while Beca and Chloe pulled out of their hug, but kept their arms around each other while looking at their roommate.

“Yeah…Chloe and the baby?” Beca said as though she couldn’t believe Amy had forgotten, her left hand resting instinctively on Chloe’s stomach.

Amy got up off her bed with a tired sigh, “Well it hasn’t been easy playing Baby Daddy…” and she began gathering a packed rucksack, “…but I guess someone had to watch your girl while you were gone.”

Beca furrowed her brow. How was Chloe ‘her girl’? They were just best friends who happened to live together. And happened to share a bed. And one of them happened to be pregnant. And the other happened to have offered to help her through the pregnancy, birth, and upbringing of the baby. It didn’t make them lovers. They weren’t in a relationship. They hadn’t even kissed.

“Where are you off to?” Beca asked curiously as Fat Amy shrugged her jacket on and headed for the door.

“I’ve been caged in this apartment on ‘Chloe Watch’ for eight days. I need to get out into the wild again. A girl’s got needs.” Beca and Chloe both grimaced slightly but Amy didn’t care, having always been very forward with the information she shared, “ _Sexual_  needs.”

“Yeah we got what you meant the first time, Amy.” Chloe said with a wince, her nose scrunched up, but Amy just grinned.

“Yeah I bet you did. I’ll just make sure I won’t get pregnant huh.” Fat Amy said with a chuckle before leaving the apartment and slamming the door behind her.

Beca and Chloe stared at the apartment door in stunned silence. Then suddenly Chloe sniffed loudly and let out a gasp.

“Our dinner!”

Beca watched with an affectionate smile as her pregnant best friend dashed over to the stove to rescue the spag bol she’d been preparing them for dinner. Tomorrow was a big day for Chloe. She was going for her twelve week scan and Beca was going with her for support. Once they were back from the appointment they could finally tell the rest of The Bellas that Chloe was expecting. Though neither of them would mention that Beca would essentially be Chloe’s baby’s ‘other Mom’ unless the conversation arose. Which Beca imagined it would, if Amy had anything to do with it…


	4. Subway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beca and Chloe travel home from Chloe's 12 week scan...

Beca and Chloe sat in stunned silence on the subway. Side by side. Looking down at a small printed photo in Chloe’s hands. And they had calm happy smiles on their faces.

One very healthy baby apparently. That’s what the Dr said Chloe was carrying. He seemed pleased to hear that Beca would be helping out both in person and financially, and that Chloe wouldn’t be going through her pregnancy alone.

He was also impressed with how many questions Beca asked about what to expect over the next couple of months before Chloe had her next scan. Chloe was relieved Beca had been with her actually, because she’d kinda zoned out the second her baby had appeared on the scan screen. And Beca had been relieved that Chloe had asked her, really making the most of the appointment time by asking as many questions as possible so she could find out how best to support Chloe. Reading books and online advice was one thing. Actually  _living_  it was a whole other ballgame.

“You’re sure you’re cool with giving birth there?” Beca asked her best friend, still not able to tear her eyes from the scan picture. She’d never understood why people would get so excited about babies and being pregnant. But having attended a scan and knowing the picture she was looking at now was of the baby growing in Chloe’s body - the baby that Beca was also committing to - had Beca feeling an unusual swell of pride and excitement. This was definitely something to be excited about.

“Oh totes!” Chloe said sweetly, “It’s our closest one.”

“Yeah but-“

“-I don’t want you panicking when I go into labor because we have to take an Über an extra million miles away because it’s a nicer hospital.” Chloe said calmly, placing one of her hands gently on Beca’s wrist, and the brunette turned to look at her best friend.

“Well I’m probably gonna be panicking when you go into labor anyway.”

And Chloe let out a small sweet chuckle before looking back down at the scan of her baby.  _Their_  baby. They weren’t in a relationship. They just so happened to be best friends who lived together and shared a bed. And one of them just so happened to be pregnant. That was all. And sure, if Chloe could have it her way she’d be in a romantic relationship with Beca in a heartbeat. But things didn’t work out that way. If Beca was interested in pursuing something like that then she’d have given Chloe clearer signs long before now.

“Hey.” Chloe snapped out of her daydream to turn back to Beca who was looking at her with a concerned expression, “Everything okay?”

Chloe forced a smile onto her face, “Yeah. Yeah just starting to feel a bit nauseous.” It was a lie, but there was no way she wanted to make Beca feel uncomfortable by confessing that she held some deeply romantic feelings for her.

“Oh.” Beca replied, reaching down for her satchel, “You want some water?” she asked, tugging a bottle of water out of the bag, and Chloe let out a sigh of content while taking the bottle gratefully.

The redhead was building herself up for a barrage of comments from strangers and colleagues and relatives who will all undoubtedly throw her a disappointed or sympathetic look when she told them she was pregnant and wasn’t ever really with the father. She was also building herself up for a barrage of disapproving looks when she told them she was actually going to raise her baby with her best friend. Her  _female_  best friend. And Chloe was fully aware people would take one look at Beca and think “Who.. _her_?! She doesn’t look like she’s got one single affectionate fibre in her body! She’s never going to be a suitable replacement for a  _father_!”

But that was the thing about Beca. To strangers and people she didn’t really know or like, she was a total bitch. Her awkwardness, stubbornness and resting bitch face were her only traits to the outside world. But behind closed doors, Chloe was privy to the side of Beca that she’d always adored. Beca was kind and thoughtful and would do  _anything_  for Chloe. And Chloe was very much secretly in love with her.

“Thanks.” Chloe said, handing the bottle back, and Beca grinned.

“Anything for ‘my girl’…” and Beca used quotation marks with her fingers, “as Amy would say you are to me.”

And Chloe tried not to look too disappointed. Because she wanted to be more than just quotation marks to Beca. She  _did_  want to be her girl.

Beca had seen the way Chloe’s smile had wavered and she panicked. Way to make things awkward Mitchell! That had been Beca testing the water to see if jokes about them ‘ _unofficially being in a very serious relationship in which they’ll be raising a child together_ ’ was something Chloe would find funny. Turns out it wasn’t and Beca felt a little disappointed. Mostly because this close friendship she had with Chloe was the most important relationship in her life. She  _loved_  Chloe. Certainly as a friend. Perhaps even more than a friend, Beca still wasn’t sure. And she didn’t want to make Chloe feel awkward with stupid jokes (even if to Beca they weren’t really jokes).

“I guess the next step will be telling The Bellas, huh?” Beca said in a bright voice, trying to change the atmosphere to a brighter one, and to her relief a smile washed onto Chloe’s face again.

“Gosh yeah. I wonder how they’ll react.” Chloe said thoughtfully, looking down at the photo in her left hand again.

“They’re gonna be totally psyched, Chlo.” Beca assured, surprising herself by reaching out and taking Chloe’s right hand, weaving their fingers together. Chloe let out a calm content sigh, resting her head on Beca’s shoulder, and they both continued to look down at the scan with soft smiles on their faces.


	5. Photos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beca and Chloe ask their neighbour to take an 'announcement' photo for them...

“So..any thoughts on how we do it?” Beca asked, sitting a little anxiously at the kitchen table. But… _good_  anxious (if that was even possible?). Her best friend was sat opposite her on the edge of their fold-out bed. And their baby scan sat proudly on the fridge, but on the side of it, so they could both see it when they were sat on their bed or first woke up in the morning.

They’d just got back from Chloe’s twelve week scan. Everything in the pregnancy was going smoothly. So now they had the exciting moment of being able to actually tell people - more specifically The Bellas who were their true family. But they had no idea how they were going to do it.

If it had been Beca’s choice, she would’ve just chucked a casual vague message in The Bellas Group WhatsApp. But it was Chloe’s baby. And she wasn’t like Beca.

“Um…” Chloe bit her bottom lip with a small smile. She had an idea, one that she’d seen on Pinterest. But she still acted coy about it because if she knew anything about her best friend then she knew that Beca would find it cheesy. Fortunately Beca knew her  _very_  well and could tell Chloe knew exactly what she wanted them to do.

“Seriously dude, whatever it is you want us to do, I’ll do it.” Beca said with a curious smile and Chloe took a deep breath.

“I’ve got a bit of an idea.” the redhead replied, “But we’d need someone to take the photo for us.”

-

Beca cleared her throat nervously as she knocked on the door of their neighbour’s apartment. She and Chloe had both agreed it would be ridiculous to hang around and wait for Amy to get home, especially as the Australian was renowned for sometimes being away from the apartment for several days at a time. So they were hoping to enlist the help of their elderly neighbour instead, Mrs Battersby.

“Just a minute!” Beca heard the woman call out in her croaky voice, the curse of too many years of heavy smoking. There was something Beca always found a little unnerving about Mrs Battersby, which is why she often avoided having to talk to her - dashing out of the apartment before the elderly woman noticed her in the corridor. Chloe, on the other hand,  _always_  chatted to Mrs Battersby. Whether it was just the redhead helping her up and down the stairs of the apartment block to Chloe knocking on her apartment door every couple of days to check that the elderly woman was still alive. Chloe insisted it was important, stating that Mrs Battersby didn’t have any family and needed her neighbours. Beca couldn’t understand. Her family had never been ones to chat to their neighbours, so Beca didn’t see the point either.

The door creaked open and Beca held her breath, having always hated the smell of stale cigarette smoke that always oozed out of the elderly woman’s apartment.

“Oh! Hello!” Mrs Battersby said in surprise, “Girl from across the way, right? Chloe’s roommate?”

“Uh yeah.” Beca said awkwardly, “Yeah I’m Beca.”

“Beca.” The woman echoed, “Nice to see you again. Can I help you with anything?”

Beca hesitated, reluctantly having to take a breath of the stale air, and she winced slightly with a forced smile, “Yes, um, Chloe sent me over to ask you for a favor. She said she was sure you’d be happy to help.”

The elderly woman’s beady dark eyes widened, and an old wrinkled smile spread across her face, “Well for Chloe I’d do anything, of course.”

“ _Make that two of us_ ” Beca thought to herself, but she didn’t air her inner thoughts, instead relaying Chloe’s instructions, “We need you to take a photo for us.”

-

“So you want me to take a picture of the two of you together?” Mrs Battersby asked cautiously, now stood by the kitchen table, looking at Beca and Chloe stood opposite her.

“If you wouldn’t mind.” Chloe said in a sweet voice.

“Dressed like that?” The elderly woman checked and Beca and Chloe glanced at one another nervously. They were both wearing their respective ‘ _Mom 1_ ’ and ‘ _Mom 2_ ’ tops, stood side by side in front of their fold-out bed. Mrs Battersby held out Chloe’s phone, a little daunted by the technology.

“Um, yeah?” Beca said once she’d turned back to the woman stood opposite them, and she saw the way Mrs Battersby let out a light sigh and a shrug, then resumed her focus on the phone in her hands, pointing it at them.

“Okay, and I just press this white button on the screen here?” The old woman asked, furrowing her brow, muttering something about wearing her glasses.

Beca and Chloe were busy trying to get into the right positions beside each other to answer her. Beca had decided to put her arm around Chloe’s shoulder - not exactly the easiest of things as she was a couple of inches shorter than the redhead, but standing on her tiptoes seemed to work - and Chloe just giggled while placing her arm around Beca’s waist. Then the two best friends used their free hands to point at Chloe’s small baby bump while smiling at the ‘camera’.

Mrs Battersby still maintained her frown of concentration, tapping several times on the phone screen, “I thiiink I got it.”

“Can we do a different pose Mrs Battersby?” Chloe asked, waiting until the elderly lady peered around the device to nod at her with a soft smile.

The two best friends quickly turned to their bed but hesitated, “Where’s the baby grow?” Beca asked Chloe, turning to look at her in confusion. Chloe appeared to be as confused as her, shrugging slightly.

“I-I don’t know where I put it.”

They began searching around their bed, until Beca let out a happy “Aha!” while on her hands and knees by the bed, and held up the little white bundle of fabric. Chloe let out a little cheer, and bounced over to Beca happily to take it from her. The two women resumed their positions in front of their bed, but this time Chloe held the baby grow over her little bump, showing the words ‘I Love My Moms’ that was printed on it.

“Okay! We’re ready Mrs Battersby!” Chloe chimed happily, with a big beaming smile on her face and Beca ensured this time that she pulled a ‘Holy Shit!’ sort of expression while pointing at the baby grow.

The photo was ‘taken’ but Mrs Battersby had her brow furrowed again and she looked around the camera specifically at Beca this time, “Oh at least look as though you’re happy about it Rebecca.”

Beca couldn’t help the chuckle that fell out of her mouth while she looked at Chloe who was beaming back at her, throwing her a quick wink, “I  _am_  happy about it, Mrs Battersby.” Beca tried to explain, “I was just messing around.”

“What did you do?” Chloe whispered curiously.

“I just pulled an ‘Oh My God!’ expression.” Beca whispered back with a grin, causing Chloe to giggle again. The redhead nudged her playfully, murmuring a “nerd” before turning back to Mrs Battersby. The woman still held the phone up at them.

“Just one last nice one.” She ordered, and Beca let out a sigh, pretending to hate this. But secretly butterflies had begun racing around in her belly when she felt Chloe place her arm around her waist, and when she reciprocated the position with her own arm around Chloe’s waist, she turned to look at her best friend.

It was in that moment that Beca’s deep blue eyes locked with Chloe’s bright blue eyes, their faces both relatively close to one another as they stood side by side. Beca could feel her heart hammering away and she noted the way Chloe smoothed her thumb gently up and down her hip slightly. She hadn’t really thought about it much before, but she loved the way Chloe’s ginger freckles came out in the summertime - and they were currently scattered all over her beautiful face.

 _Beautiful face_. It wasn’t often Beca thought that about Chloe so seriously. Sure she sometimes thought Chloe looked pretty when they were both drunk. But right now, seeing the way her best friend looked at her almost  _adoringly_  had Beca wondering how she’d gone so many years without addressing the fact that deep deep down, to some extent, she actually found herself quite attracted to Chloe.

Beca and Chloe both smiled softly at one another until they heard Mrs Battersby say, “Lovely. I hope that’s plenty of photos you were wanting.”

The two younger women cleared their throats, stepping apart, curling their respective long locks of hair behind their ears, slightly embarrassed. They looked at the old woman opposite them gratefully and Chloe stepped up to her to take back her phone.

“Now is this a thing for ‘a pride’ show that you’re taking part in?” Mrs Battersby asked curiously.

“Oh um…not exactly Mrs Battersby, no.” Chloe said with an embarrassed chuckle, then she turned to Beca who was just watching her with a grin. “I  _am_ actually pregnant. We just wanted to have a photo to send to our friends as an announcement.”

“Oh.” The old lady replied in surprise, “I’m sorry I didn’t realise you two were…”

Beca and Chloe looked at each other awkwardly before resuming their attention their neighbour, “We’re not.” Beca replied quickly, not wanting to embarrass Chloe. Sure she’d  _love_  for them to be…whatever Mrs Battersby had been about to call them. But Chloe didn’t seem to give any indication that she was ‘romantically interested’ in Beca, just as Beca wasn’t overly sure that what she felt for Chloe was necessarily romantic either (though she had to admit that eye contact earlier certainly had her feeling far more for Chloe than she ever had before).

“Beca’s just helping me raise my baby because the father isn’t involved.” Chloe explained, trying to play down her disappointment at Beca’s quick response moments ago. One that shot down any of Chloe’s hopes that the eye contact they’d just shared meant anything more to the brunette than just friendship.

“Well what an honourable thing to do.” Mrs Battersby concluded with a firm nod, and she stepped forward to place a hand on Beca’s shoulder and on Chloe’s. She smiled at them softly, “You both look as though you make the perfect team. Any child will be lucky to have you both taking care of them.”

And with those final words, Mrs Battersby left the apartment. Beca and Chloe remained frozen to the spot, staring at the closed door.

Well, they’d done it. They’d successfully taken the photos they could use to announce to The Bellas - nay, the  _world_  - that Chloe was pregnant. And Beca was going to be the other mother to Chloe’s child.


	6. Video

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beca and Chloe realise something...

Beca sat beside Chloe on their fold out bed, peering over her shoulder while Chloe swiped through the photos Mrs Battersby had taken. Unfortunately most - if not all of them - were blurred. The two women were gutted.

“Well how about that one?” Beca suggested, pointing at a photo of the two of them looking down at Chloe’s stomach. But Chloe simply let out a heavy sigh dropping her phone into her lap and bringing her hands to her face.

“It’s no good. They’re all blurry!” she mumbled into her hands.

Beca picked Chloe’s phone up and began scrolling through the photos again. Her best friend had a point, they  _were_  all blurry. Like each had been taken mid-movement. Suddenly Beca’s thumb hovered over the screen when she realised that Mrs Battersby had accidentally recorded a video too.

“Hey, look at this.” Beca said, nudging Chloe gently with her elbow, and the redhead let her hands drop from her face as she glanced at her phone that Beca held out in front of them.

The two best friends watched the screen as Beca pressed ‘play’ and to their fascination they realised that Mrs Battersby had been recording their entire ‘photo shoot’ from the moment she’d accidentally pressed record. The photos in Chloe’s album must have come from the elderly woman pressing the ‘screenshot’ button that was often available during video recordings. No wonder the photos had all looked blurry.

Beca had never seen the way she’d interacted around Chloe before, so for some reason she took extra interest in this particular video. She saw how her face seemed to relax whenever she glanced at Chloe - which was surprisingly more times than she ever realised she did. And Beca had to admit, it was a wonder Chloe had never pulled her up on it before.

The two best friends chuckled as they watched themselves together on the video clip, trying to get into position for the first photo, Beca’s arm up over Chloe’s shoulder while they both pointed at the redhead’s stomach with big smiles.

“You’re so short.” Chloe said in an amused tone under her breath, but a giggle rippled out of her mouth when she felt Beca jab her affectionately in the side with her free hand.

“Heyyy. Meanie.”

The video continued and in it Chloe asked Mrs Battersby if they could take a different photo. Chloe held her breath while she watched it, remembering exactly the way she’d looked at Beca at the time, her best friend scrambling on the floor to look under their bed. She felt her cheeks flush pink in embarrassment when she saw the way she’d bitten her bottom lip while watching Beca affectionately. She hoped the woman beside her didn’t notice. It’d be so embarrassing if Beca realised she felt more for her than just friendship. It might even make Beca feel so uncomfortable that she wouldn’t want to help with the baby any more.

Fortunately Beca muttered beside her, “Oh God, I’m such a dork.” and that seemed to be enough to let Chloe know that Beca was watching herself in the video. As it continued playing the two women couldn’t help the small smiles on their faces as the baby grow was held in position over Chloe’s small bump in the video.

Chloe kept her eyes on nothing else but ‘video-Beca’, grinning brightly as she watched herself and her best friend posing with looks of mock shock on their faces. That was when the sound of Mrs Battersby sounded from behind the camera, telling Beca off for pulling a face. And that was when ‘video-Beca’ and ‘video-Chloe’ stood a little taller, and placed their arms around each other’s hips.

Beca swallowed loudly as her eyes focussed on ‘video-Chloe’. Unbeknownst to her at the time, Chloe had been looking at her long before she’d returned the gaze. And a small smile swept over her face when she saw her video-self turning to look back at Chloe. That was the moment Beca remembered as clear as day. Possibly the moment she would remember for the rest of her life. And here it was, as video evidence: the moment Beca suddenly realised she  _might_  feel something more for Chloe than just friendship.

The two best friends remained sat side by side, watching the device, privately marvelling at how good they actually looked together. Not that either would ever mention it to the other for fear of ruining their close friendship. They both cleared their throats when the video ended and adjusted their positions so they weren’t so ‘leant up against each other’, smiling in contentment at what they’d just seen.

“Do you think you could send that to me?” Beca asked curiously, and Chloe simply uttered a quiet “Uhuh.” while taking back her phone.

The two women sat in comfortable silence, rewatching the video on their respective phones with the volume on ‘mute’. After about twenty minutes, Beca cut the silence in a proud tone, “I think I’ve got the photos.” Chloe’s eyes snapped up, looking over at her best friend with a questioning expression, but Beca simply smiled at her, “Look at your phone.”

Chloe turned to the device in her hands and saw that Beca had sent her three photos. And the woman wasn’t lying. She  _had_  got the photos.

“How-?” Chloe began as she opened the text from her best friend and clasped eyes on the images.

“I just took screenshots from the video and edited them a little to look nicer.” Beca said with a shrug, smiling back down at her phone at her favourite of the three, the one of her pointing at the baby grow Chloe held over her stomach. The one that read: ‘ _I Love My Moms_ ’. Beca loved that baby grow.

There was a pause in the apartment. Then suddenly Beca heard a sob, and she turned back to see that Chloe had started to quietly cry. The brunette felt a knot in her stomach. Shit. Was this good crying or bad crying? Like…was Chloe happy with these photos or-

“I love them!” Chloe blubbed, her eyes on her favourite photo of the three. The one of Beca pointing at the baby grow Chloe held up to her stomach. The look on Beca’s face in that photo perfectly captured the way this pregnancy had turned their lives upside down. The way it had turned their  _friendship_ upside down. The redhead swept her thumb across the screen to see the other two screenshots: Beca and Chloe stood side by side, Beca with her arm over Chloe’s shoulders while they beamed at the camera; and the two of them stood side by side towards the end of the video, looking at each other in contentment.

“You’re sure? Because we can always get Amy to take proper photos for us later?” Beca suggested with caution, but Chloe shook her head gently and looked up at Beca with a watery smile, tears still rolling down her cheeks - the curse of her pregnancy hormones.

“These  _are_  perfect. But to start with I’ll just send the photo you took before going over to Mrs Battersby’s.”

“The close up of your t-shirt?”

“Uhuh.” Chloe said with a nod, loving the way Beca smiled at her. She’d never known Beca to smile as much as she had done over the past couple of months. And Chloe hoped that she and this baby were the reason. She sensed that they were.

“Perfect idea, Beale.” Beca said in a fond tone, and Chloe couldn’t help but let out a content sigh as she turned back to her phone and pulled up The Bellas WhatsApp group to begin composing a message to them all, starting with the attached photo of a close up of her t-shirt which read ‘ _Mom 1_ ’ on it..


	7. Bellas WhatsApp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe makes an announcement in The Bellas Group WhatsApp...

**Chloe:**   _[Chloe sent a photo]_

A photo of a close up of a t-shirt with ‘Mom 1’ printed on it appears on the screen.

 **Chloe:**  Guess the Bella!

 **Flo:**  *shocked emoji*

 **Stacie:**  Oh my God!

 **Aubrey:**  *heart-eyes emoji*

 **Cynthia Rose:**  Holy sh**!!

 **Jessica:**  Eeeeeee!!

 **Ashley:**  No way!!

 **Fat Amy:**  Way

 **Cynthia Rose:**  Huh??

 **Cynthia Rose:**  Fat Amy is that a photo of you??

 **Fat Amy:**  No!!

 **Chloe:**  It’s meeeee *giggling monkey emoji*

**Chloe:** _[Chloe sent a photo]_

A photo of Chloe stood beaming at the camera with her ‘Mom 1’ top on appears on the screen while pointing at her little baby bump.

 **Emily:**  Aaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

 **Emily:**  CONGRATULATIONS!!

 **Stacie:**  Congrats Red!!!

 **Cynthia Rose:**  WOAH!

 **Cynthia Rose:**  Yeah congrats Chloe :D awesome news!

 **Flo:**  I didn’t realise you were seeing someone *heart-eyes emoji*

 **Emily:**  Yeah! Who’s the father??

 **Fat Amy:**  YEAH BECA, who’s the father?

 **Fat Amy:**  *suggestive emoji*

 **Beca:**  *eye-roll emoji*

 **Emily:**  *embarrassed emoji*

 **Stacie:**  Oh my God..

 **Stacie:**  It’s not Jesse is it??

 **Lilly:**  No

 **Beca:**  NO!

 **Chloe:**  Definitely not! Not seeing anyone. Just a happy accident *beaming smile emoji*.*baby emoji*

 **Beca:**  Amy stop being weird!

 **Fat Amy:**  Whatever you say Daddio ;)

 **Stacie:**  Okay I’m confused..

 **Cynthia Rose:**  Is it me or is Fat Amy acting weirder than usual?

 **Emily:**  So…Chloe, you’re doing this on your own? *flexed bicep emoji*

 **Fat Amy:**  Not exactly, right Beca?

 **Stacie:**  What is THAT supposed to mean??

 **Beca:**  Um…

 **Chloe:**   _[Chloe sent a photo]_

A photo of a close up of Chloe holding up a baby grow with ‘ _I Love My Moms_ ’ over her stomach appears on the screen.

 **Emily:**  OH MY GOD YOU GUYS FINALLY GOT TOGETHER!!!

 **Ashley:**   _[Ashley sent a gif]_

The “Oh my God it’s happening” gif taken from The US Office appears on the screen.

 **Jessica:**   _[Jessica sent a gif]_

The “Just stay f***ing calm!!” gif take from The US Office appears on the screen.

 **Stacie:**  *gasping emoji* No way!!!

 **Fat Amy:**  A Bhloe baby. It’s a Christmas miracle!

 **Beca:**  *eye-roll emoji*

 **Chloe:** *laughing crying emoji*

 **Chloe:**  Guys we’re not together!

 **Beca:**  But we are gonna raise this baby together.

 **Beca:**   _[Beca sent a photo]_

A photo of Chloe and Beca stood side by side appears on the screen. Chloe is wearing a top with ‘ _Mom 1_ ’ printed on it and Beca is wearing a top with ‘ _Mom 2_ ’ printed on it. They are looking at each other adoringly.

_Beca let out an internal groan as she realised she had sent the wrong photo to the group. That was the photo she hadn’t even sent to Chloe, and she heard her best friend let out a little gasp as she inspected the new screenshot from the video._

**Aubrey:**  Okay, even I have to admit you’re making it hard for us to believe you guys when you post a photo like that, Beca.

 **Fat Amy:**   _[Fat Amy sent a photo]_

A cartoon of the “Now kiss” meme appears on the screen.

 **Flo:**  *monkey giggling emoji*

 **Stacie:**  *laughing crying emoji*

 **Cynthia Rose:** *laughing crying emoji*

 **Lilly:**  *two girls kissing emoji*

 **Chloe:**  *face-palm emoji* she had one job..

 **Beca:**  *yikes emoji* I’m already in trouble!

 **Beca:**  Baby’s not even here yet!

 **Emily:**  I CANT BELIEVE YOU GUYS ARE HAVING A BABY!! *heart-eyes emoji*.*baby emoji*

 **Beca:**  Believe it Legacy..

_Beca and Chloe both looked up from their phones with soft smiles on their faces, and glanced at each other happily. This was exactly how a baby announcement was supposed to be. And they were both thrilled that their best friends - their family - were as excited as they were._


	8. Moonlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beca comes to a realisation overnight...

Beca held her breath, her eyes peering through the dim moonlight that filtered through the terrible blinds that they still kept up over their apartment window. Her mind kept going over the video that she’d now seen a good hundred times since it had been taken earlier that day. Her eyes had the baby scan emblazoned on the back of her eyelids so that each time she blinked she was reminded of how perfect it was.

And it was perfect because of the figure laid in bed beside her. Chloe. Her best friend and the mother of the baby that Beca was already fully committed to.

Beca could see the way Chloe’s body was rising and falling with each steady breath she took, having clearly fallen asleep a good hour ago. But Beca couldn’t sleep. She didn’t dare. It was as though a switch had been clicked in her brain and her natural impulse had immediately turned to ‘protector’. If she fell asleep there was a chance something might happen to Chloe and the baby. But if she stayed awake, Beca could protect them. She wasn’t sure how, but she could.

Her left arm was wedged underneath Chloe’s neck, the woman having turned onto her left side which she’d been informed by the Dr was the best position to sleep in when pregnant. Beca’s right arm was around Chloe’s waist, the palm of her hand resting protectively on Chloe’s small bump. The brunette knew it was too early in the pregnancy to feel any movement, but it made her realise how excited she was for that time to come - and Beca rarely got excited about anything.

The woman remained still, her body shaped perfectly to fit behind Chloe’s position in their fold-out bed. And Beca couldn’t help the small smile that washed across her face as she realised that really nice scent she thought she could smell was actually Chloe’s shampoo.

_Fuck._

Suddenly it dawned on Beca:

Somewhere in the chaos of organising spreadsheets of budgets and timelines and baby shopping lists; somewhere in the midst of the emotional rollercoaster that was supporting Chloe and having to work away for eight days; somewhere in the uncertainty of attending the first baby scan; somewhere in the excitement of preparing for then announcing Chloe’s pregnancy to their best friends…

Beca had fallen for Chloe.

She felt the woman begin to stir, and the redhead winced slightly in her sleep while she turned in Beca’s arms and faced her, tucking into her body before letting out a drowsy sigh of relief. Beca swallowed hard, her arms remaining around her best friend, and with a deep breath she nudged her face down, then placed a soft silent kiss on the top of Chloe’s head.

Within minutes the brunette was also asleep. Her body scrambled with Chloe’s. Both creating a calm, content little lump in the center of their fold-out bed.


	9. Mothers Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Mothers Day! And Beca has a little surprise for Chloe..

Chloe stirred in her sleep then scrunched her face up as she felt a dull ache in her stomach. So the morning sickness had begun to wind down finally, but she she still got the odd ache in the mornings, which (after a rather frantic phone call from Beca to the Drs) turned out to be very normal for this stage of her pregnancy - which was…fourteen weeks today. Chloe couldn’t believe the time was already going so quickly.

“Hey.” came a familiar whisper and Chloe gently opened her eyes, looking up to see her best friend stood beside her side of the bed, throwing her satchel over her shoulder while looking down at the redhead with some concern, “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Chloe said in a quiet drowsy voice.

“Bumble causing you discomfort again?” Beca asked, and Chloe nodded with a small wince, slowly sitting herself up in bed.

‘Bumble’ was a nickname that the two women used for Chloe’s unborn baby after a couple of weeks ago they both spied a bumblebee walking across the baby scan photo that was up on the fridge facing their fold-out bed. Beca had joked to Chloe that they could name their kid Bumble when it was born. After that the nickname kinda stuck.

“I’ll be alright.” Chloe assured the woman stood beside her, a genuine soft smile on her face which eased Beca’s concern slightly.

“Okay well, I’ll have my phone on me all day so if you need  _anything_  you’ll call, right? And I’ll either get Amy to help or I’ll get someone to cover me for a couple of hours at work and I’ll grab an Über back, yeah?”

Chloe couldn’t help the light giggle that left her lips. Beca was  _so_  wonderful. And stubborn. There was no trying to protest with her when she was being generous. So Chloe simply nodded, rubbing her hand instinctively over her small bump that  _was_  getting bigger by the day. The biological father of her baby had been a tall guy, she remembered that much. And Chloe didn’t exactly have a petite frame. She had a feeling her baby was going to be quite big when it finally arrived…

“You know, I’m going to be with Mrs Battersby for some of today so I’m sure she’ll be able to help me-“ Chloe tried but Beca pulled a bit of a face and shook her head firmly.

“Don’t get me wrong Chlo, she’s nice. But she’s elderly.”

“She’s fiiine.”

“Yeah if you needed a cup of tea made within twenty minutes. But what if you fell? Or-or ran out of ice cream?” Beca reasoned, which only caused another chuckle to ripple out of Chloe’s mouth while she reached out to grab Beca’s hand.

“I’ll be okay!” Chloe insisted, not noticing the way Beca swallowed loudly at her sudden physical contact.

“She will.” Came a voice from across the studio apartment and Amy laid in her bed, scrolling through her phone, “I’ll be about.”

Chloe grinned as she saw Beca look from Amy back down to her with some uncertainty, but the redhead gave her a wink, “Go on. Go to work.” Chloe said in a reassuring voice, “The sooner you go the sooner you can come home again!”

“Okay.” Beca said in a tone of defeat, glancing over at Amy who hadn’t looked away from her phone.

“Oh, before I go…” Beca said, giving Chloe a relatively excitable grin (for her), before striding around to her side of the bed and picking up a gift bag, “I got you something.”

Chloe’s face opened into a large beaming smile. A present?? She didn’t deserve a present. It wasn’t her birthday for another couple of weeks! “What is it??” She asked as she took the gift bag that Beca offered to her.

“Open it and see.” Beca replied kindly.

Chloe’s heart began racing in excitement as she delved into the gift bag and pulled out a tea mug. On it were the words  _’Worlds Best Mommy’_.

“Happy Mother’s Day, Chlo.” Beca said in a soft, affectionate voice. And Chloe’s breath caught in her throat while tears began to build in her eyes. It was Mother’s Day today.  _Of course!_

“But..I’m not a Mommy yet.” Chloe said in a quiet voice, looking up at Beca with her bright blue eyes. And Beca suddenly thought her heart was going to burst out of her chest. Because Chloe looked  _so_  beautiful in this vulnerable state that Beca just wanted to dive down and kiss her. But she kept control of her impulses, and simply smiled a bit brighter.

“Seriously? Dude, right now you’re the  _ultimate_  Mommy! You’re feeding and growing and protecting your baby. That’s definitely something Mommy’s do.” Beca said kindly, meaning every last word of it. It was something that had occurred to her last week when she’d overheard Chloe talking to her little bump before bedtime. Chloe was detailing what she could see at that time, which happened to be the small studio apartment and also Beca.

_”And in front of Mommy right now, stood in the kitchen, is Mama. And she’s making Mommy her most faaavorite tea-“_

_Beca smiled softly at Chloe’s words while the redhead spoke to her bump in their fold-out bed._

_“Wait..do you mind being called Mama? Or would you rather be called Mommy as well? Or Mom? Or Ma? Or..Beca?” Chloe called out to her and Beca just shrugged._

_“Mama’s cool with me. Less confusing for the little bug I guess.” Beca said, looking over at her best friend and she chuckled slightly when she saw Chloe beaming at her while rubbing her small bump. Then the redhead looked back down at her stomach and continued._

_”You may have guessed by now, Bumble, but Mama LOOOVES music. It’s her most favorite thing in the world. Though I get the feeling it’ll have to go down to second place once you arrive.” Chloe said sweetly to her unborn baby, and Beca let out a quiet sigh of content._

_”Third” Beca thought, “Music will have to shift down from second to third. And Chloe will probably have to shift down to second.”_

Chloe pulled an envelope out of the gift bag, and pulled out a card that had a big cartoon bumblebee on the front of it, and a ‘baby bumblebee in it’s tummy’. The words on the front read “ **To the most Bee-utiful Mommy on Mother’s Day** ”.

And inside was the familiar scrawly handwriting of her best friend, Beca having written:

**Dear Mommy,  
Happy Mother’s Day!  
Lots of love, Bumble xx  
(and Mama)**

Chloe couldn’t help the breath caught in her throat again as she read and re-read the words then looked up at Beca adoringly. This was officially the best card she had  _ever_  received. And it was from her  _best friend_. The woman she’d secretly been in love with for around seven years. The woman who continued to surprise her in the best ways during this pregnancy.

“Beca, I-“ Chloe began, but she couldn’t find the words to express how much this card and gift meant to her. So she let out a shaky sigh of content as she smiled softly up at her best friend, “I love it. Thank you.”

“Well, don’t thank me. Thank Bumble! They helped me pick the gift  _and_  the card out so…” Beca said with a grin and a shrug, and Chloe let out a chuckle.

“Thanks baby.” Chloe said sweetly to her bump while smoothing her hand over it.

“Uh..quick question guys.” Fat Amy asked across the room cautiously, and Beca and Chloe both turned to look at their roommate who had sat up in her bed, “Is Mother’s Day the same date worldwide, or just here in the states?”

“Um..” the two women answered, not really knowing.

“You know what? I’ll call my Mum anyway. It’ll be a nice surprise for her either way.” The Australian said with a shrug and began sliding out of her bed to go to the ‘bathroom’ area of the apartment.

“I’d better go to work.” Beca said in a reluctant tone, and Chloe turned to look back up at her with a bit of a disappointed expression that mirrored Beca’s. The brunette headed for the door, pointing at her best friend who was watching her go, “Promise me when you see Mrs Battersby that it’ll be her coming here and not you going there please? I hear second-hand smoke is really bad for the baby’s health.”

And Chloe couldn’t help the soft smile that remained on her face as she nodded, “I promise.”

She let out a content sigh when she watched Beca give her a wink and a grin before dashing out of their apartment, slamming the door shut behind her.

God, she and her unborn baby were  _so_  lucky to have Beca in their lives.


	10. Mama's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe has a surprise for Beca after work...

Beca wasn’t one for getting an Über home from work, especially on a Sunday when things generally were more laid back at work. But having left Chloe looking so  _serene_  on Mother’s Day earlier that morning, Beca figured it wouldn’t be the end of the world to get an Über this one time to ensure she got home a little sooner. She wanted to hear how Chloe’s day had been and how her body was feeling and if she may have thought about baby names or the potential road trip Beca had suggested they take before the baby arrived.

When she arrived at her apartment block she glanced at her phone screen, smiling at the photo on it. She’d taken her fave screenshot photo that she and Chloe had used as an announcement photo for The Bellas, and had edited it a bit so that it was now in black and white. And she  _still_  found herself looking at it and smiling even though it was taken a couple of weeks ago.

Beca strode up the stairwell to her apartment floor in some sort of a daze while she daydreamed about what it would be like in six months time trying to get a baby stroller up and down these stairs. She’d carry it of course, not wanting Chloe to hurt herself. Which had Beca thinking that maybe she’d need to join a gym or something. Start working out a bit…

The brunette entered the studio apartment she shared with her two best friends and froze on the spot while peering around. The apartment smelt amazing. Like freshly washed bedsheets and clean air. She spied a new shower curtain around the bath by the kitchen, and a new table cloth over the small kitchen table. And the whole place looked far cleaner than it ever had before.

And Chloe. There was Chloe stood by the fridge, pulling a bottle of beer out. Beca’s favourite kind of beer. She peered around the door with a big beaming smile, “Welcome home Mama!”

Beca let the door close behind her and she shrugged her satchel from her shoulder, a curious smile on her face, “Wow. The apartment looks  _amazing_ , Chlo!”

“Well I was in a bit of a nesting mood earlier so I figured, why not!” Chloe said in a bright voice, holding out the cool beer to her best friend. But Beca looked at it, hesitating slightly. “Do…do you not like this kind of beer?”

“No, dude, of course I do!” Beca said quickly, taking the bottle politely, “I just…figured I’d stop drinking while you couldn’t. You know. For support.”

She saw Chloe bite her bottom lip with a soft smile and for the first time ever Beca wondered fleetingly what it might be like to have that bottom lip between her  _own_  teeth.

“Well one beer won’t do you any harm.” Chloe said kindly, throwing Beca a wink, before turning back to the kitchen units and pulling a couple of plates out of a cupboard, “Now, Amy’s out this evening so I’ve ordered us Pizza and you can pick whatever we watch on Netflix.”

Beca hadn’t really been listening, still a little spaced out from the brief daydream she’d just had about making out with her best friend and when she snapped back to reality she realised Chloe was looking at her with an amused grin. Beca cleared her throat, “Uh great. That…um…sounds great.”

“You have no idea what I just said do you.” Chloe replied in an amused tone and Beca felt her cheeks flush slightly.

“Um..not exactly, no” And she took a swig of her beer.

Fortunately Chloe just let out a light chuckle while placing the plates on the table, “You. Me. Bumble. Pizza. Netflix.” And a big smile spread across Beca’s face when she noticed an envelope with her name on it was propped up against the ketchup bottle in the middle of the small kitchen table that Chloe was in the process of laying.

“Sounds like the perfect evening.” Beca said, stepping towards the table and pointing at the envelope. “Is this for me?”

“Uhuh.” Chloe said with a soft smile and Beca could tell her best friend was trying to contain her excitement. Because she knew Chloe better than anyone. And Beca could see exactly why Chloe was excited. Because the brunette opened the envelope and pulled out a beautiful little homemade card.

 **Happy Mama’s Day!**  it read in bold black lettering on a white card - exactly how she would want a card to look, and Beca grinned while she opened it up and read the words inside.

**Dear Mama,**

**HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!**

**I know we haven’t met yet, but I’ve still got a bit of growing to do before we can. In the meantime I’ll be hanging out with Mommy trying to get big and strong so I can cuddle you extra tight when I arrive in this big wide world.**   
**I’ll be listening out for your voice and can’t wait to feel you tickling my foot through Mommy’s tummy in a few weeks time.**   
**Thank you so much for taking care of Mommy. She gets so tired and achy sometimes but you always make her feel better and so very happy.**   
**Thank you for protecting us and always putting us first. You really are the bestest Mama!**

**Lots and lots of love,**   
**Bumble xx**   
**(and Mommy xx)**

Of course Chloe would write a lot. That was just Chloe’s style. Far more talkative than Beca, but that’s what made Beca confident that their baby would end up so well rounded. It’d have the best traits of both of them.

“Well now I feel guilty that Bumble didn’t write more in your card.” Beca said with a sniff, the words in her Mama’s Day card bringing tears to her eyes. She didn’t get openly emotional about stuff very often. But she felt emotional about this. She hadn’t realised how much of an impact she’d made on Chloe’s life over the past couple of months. Seeing it all written down reminded her.

“Bumble didn’t need to write any more.” Chloe said quietly, and affectionate smile on her face while she looked up at her best friend, “My card was perfect.”

Beca smiled gently, looking down at the front of the card again, then re-reading some of the kind words that had been written in it, “Our baby’s gonna be so lucky.” She said with a content sigh.

Beca realised it was the first proper time she’d spoken about this baby as  _their_ baby. It would have traits of Chloe of course, but it would also have traits of Beca’s too.

It was going to be the perfect mix of both of them.

And Beca felt her stomach flip with excitement as she re-read one of the sentences in the card that ‘Bumble’ (Chloe) had written: “ _can’t wait to feel you tickling my foot through Mommy’s tummy in a few weeks time._ ”

“I can’t wait to tickle Bumble’s feet.” Beca said with a grin, and looked up at Chloe who was watching her, her bright blue eyes dancing in delight.

“Bumble can’t wait either.” Chloe said, smoothing her hand over her small baby bump.

Suddenly the buzzer to the apartment rang and Chloe stepped past Beca to answer it. Beca let her eyes flutter shut as she smelt Chloe’s shampoo waft against her face while her best friend passed her.

“Pizza Delivery for…Bumble?” came the voice of the confused delivery guy through the box.

Beca and Chloe looked at each other with big smiles on their faces. Let’s face it, Chloe had started to show signs of cravings. This pizza  _was_  for their baby.


	11. The Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe gets a call from her mother...

“No, Mom, I-I…”

Chloe sat on the apartment floor, leaning back against the bottom of the fold-out bed she shared with Beca, her phone up to her ear, and tears streaming down her cheeks. This was the worst.

“…well no of course I didn’t want to disappoint you and Daddy…”

Someone in the family (probably her second cousin, Katrina, that nosey bitch) had somehow found their way onto Fat Amy’s Instagram page and had seen a photo that Amy had posted on there of Chloe sporting her nineteen-week bump, eating from a massive ice-cream tub alone. The tag of the photo had been ‘ _Are you eating for two or two hundred there, Beale? #pregnantroommate #help #eatingfortwo #thatwasMYicecream #sheowesme #imtellingbeca_. And unfortunately for Chloe, that family member had shown her parents. The people who had low-key disowned Chloe after the redhead had failed to graduate from college for the second time. They’d still send a Christmas and birthday card and vice-versa. But Chloe rarely spoke to them nowadays.

“… _yes_  I’m keeping it!”

Chloe was still crying. Still blubbing. Still highly upset that her mother had called in the first place and even more so when the woman had strictly told her that she couldn’t believe how much Chloe had screwed her life up.

“We’ll be fine…No I’m not with the father…it doesn’t matter who he was…I  _do_ have support!”

Chloe brought her free hand from her bump up to her face, squeezing her eyes shut while her mother rambled about how expensive a baby was and how Chloe would never make it alone and how not having the father around would mean Chloe would probably turn to drugs or prostitution or goodness knows what else living there in Brooklyn.

“…well if you  _must_  know, Beca’s agreed to support me…yeah she’s going to help me raise it… _yes_  like another mother!”

It was around that moment that Beca stepped into the apartment, having just returned home from work, and the redhead turned to look up at her best friend, relieved that she’d no longer be in this apartment alone (Amy hadn’t been home in a couple of days). As expected, Beca slammed the door behind her and dived to her knees at Chloe’s side. The brunette’s deep blue eyes widened anxiously as she silently tried to ask if Chloe was okay. But Chloe’s mother’s voice rang out around the quiet studio apartment and Beca immediately knew what had brought on her best friend’s tears. She wasn’t on the phone to the Dr. She was on the phone to her mother.

“No Mom we’re  _not_  in a relationship.” Chloe responded sheepishly.

“No, we’re not lesbians.” she added with a shaky sigh, and Beca swallowed loudly. It was weird hearing the label said out loud. Nothing had happened between them romantically in the slightest. Ever. And yet hearing it being immediately shut down by Chloe made Beca feel unusually and unnecessarily disappointed. Because there was a lot of her that wished they  _were_  lesbians. And that they were in a relationship. Because in recent days she’d conceded that yes, she  _was_  secretly in love with her best friend.

“Well she’ll be a far better mother than you! At least she cares about her child already and it’s not even born yet!”

Beca peeled her satchel from over her shoulder and took a seat on the floor beside Chloe. She hated seeing Chloe cry. Even if they were happy tears. Beca just always felt a little uncomfortable - though she was getting used to Chloe’s happy tears, the redhead not being able to control her emotions still thanks to the pregnancy.

“Look, what she and I have planned for this baby is nothing to do with you. So unless you can be happy for me then I don’t want to hear from you again.” Chloe snapped, frustrated with having to explain herself to her mother, the one person who should just embrace her life and the decisions she made.

There was one last thing said from Mrs Beale that Beca didn’t catch, but it was enough for Chloe to quickly end the call and burst into further tears, immediately throwing herself into Beca’s arms. The two remained sat on the floor at the bottom of their bed, Beca cradling Chloe while the redhead cried. Chloe clung to Beca’s arms while she bawled into her top, and Beca gently rocked her from side to side.

It didn’t matter how many times she was let down by her parents, Chloe still struggled to deal with the reality that they just didn’t love her enough. But it was this reality that had Chloe secretly determined that when her baby was born she was going to do everything in her power to ensure her child felt loved, protected and supported no matter what. And she knew that Beca would do the same too.


	12. Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beca's in some pain...

Chloe looked up from the baby book that she was reading (‘ _What To Expect When You’re Expecting_ ’) over at the apartment door just as Beca stepped over the threshold. The brunette let out a heavy sigh, raising her eyebrows at Chloe as a form of greeting while closing the door behind her with a small groan.

“Everything okay?” Chloe asked curiously, watching her best friend like a hawk while the woman shrugged her light jacket off, letting it drop to the floor with her satchel.

“Yeah, just shattered.” Beca replied in an exhausted tone. The woman had been pulling long hours in Manhattan at the record label, helping to produce Justin Bieber’s new record which was proving a little more trickier than expected. It meant early starts and late finishes, much like this evening, when she finally trudged through the door at 10pm. Chloe, as usual, couldn’t fall asleep without her best friend laying beside her. So the redhead stayed up on purpose until Beca came home.

Chloe let out a small chuckle, placing her book on the side and reaching her arms out towards her best friend, “Come on,” she said with a sweet smile, “Bumble’s missed you.”

A tired smile swept over Beca’s face and she did as she was told, clambering onto the fold-out bed that she and Chloe shared, allowing Chloe to wrap her arms around her. The brunette let out a heavy sigh of content as her head lay at Chloe’s ‘boob-level’, but her attention remained purely on the 21-week bump that her best friend was successfully sporting.

Beca brought a hand out and rested it on Chloe’s stomach, smoothing it affectionately across the surface, a soft smile on her face. Since last week, and their twenty week scan, Beca and Chloe made it routine to lay in this position on their fold-out bed. It happened usually from the moment Beca got home to the moment they fell asleep. Which wasn’t usually much longer afterwards.

While laying together the two mothers-to-be would talk about their unborn child’s future. What life would be like with a baby, then toddler, then child. Neither of them spoke about the potential situation that could arise later in their lives. That one of them  _may_  want to start dating someone at some point. It would make sharing the parenting duties very complicated. Unbeknownst to each other though, Beca fancied Chloe, and Chloe fancied Beca. This situation was beyond perfect. Yet neither of them had done anything about it for fear of the other not feeling the same way.

“Hey Bumble. Mama’s home.” Beca said to Chloe’s baby bump and suddenly she let out a gasp when a little lump pushed up against Chloe’s skin.  _Their baby had just kicked!_  Chloe also let out a gasp, and her heart raced with excitement. She’d been feeling the baby move more and more in recent days, but she’d never seen it react to anyone’s voice before. And the most wonderful thing was it had reacted to  _Beca’s_  voice.

Beca beamed up at Chloe with delight, “Did you see that??”

“I did!” Chloe said in a shriller tone then she would’ve liked.

But Beca didn’t seem to notice, too busy resuming her attention on the bump and smoothing her hand over Chloe’s stomach again, “Heeeeey Buddy! You like the sound of my voice huh?”

There was a bit of movement from the baby again and it’s two Moms let out small squeaks of delight. Then a chuckle rippled out of Beca’s mouth while she adjusted her body position on the bed. She winced as she moved, causing Chloe to freeze, furrowing her brow in concern.

“Are you in pain?”

“Yeah, it’s alright though. Nothing to worry about.”

Chloe bit her bottom lip in concern while she watched her best friend resume her focus on the baby bump, grinning while she chatted about her day, her hands on Chloe’s belly.

“So there’s this singer that Mama’s working with at the mo, Bumble. And he’s a pretty big deal at the moment. He probably won’t be when you’re old enough to know who he is but…he’s alright I guess-“

“-why are you in pain?” Chloe interrupted and Beca paused, glancing up at her best friend, her smile wavering. The brunette took a deep breath then winced with embarrassment.

“You’re gonna think it’s lame.”

Chloe let out an amused chuckle, “No I’m not.”

“You are.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because even  _I_  think it’s lame!”

The apartment fell silent while the two best friends smiled gently at each other: Chloe’s a curious smile, Beca’s a flustered one. Then Beca took a deep breath, exhaled heavily, and closed her eyes.

“I’ve been having PT sessions in my lunch break at work.”

Chloe’s smile broadened slightly. Well she definitely hadn’t been expecting  _that_ , “What? Wh…why?” She asked, trying her hardest not to laugh, so she grinned instead. Because Beca  _hated_  exercise. And she hated the gym. So she couldn’t quite understand why she had hired a Personal Trainer!

“Because we have five flights of stairs to climb every time we leave this apartment and if we’re gonna have a stroller I want to make sure it doesn’t take me an hour to get it up and down those stairs?” Beca said in an embarrassed tone, “Especially if our baby is asleep  _in_  that stroller. I don’t want to disturb it by running out of breath or strength.”

Chloe couldn’t understand why her best friend was possibly embarrassed. This was yet  _another_  adorable way that Beca was stepping up as a mother, even though she wasn’t carrying this baby. She was still one step ahead. Always thinking to the future. About how she was going to slot into this role as a co-parent with Chloe. And Chloe  _loved_  her for it.

“I-I…” Chloe began, becoming a bit choked by the sentiment, tears beginning to sparkle in her eyes, and she cleared her throat before continuing, “…I don’t know what to say.”

A smile had grown on Beca’s face, the brunette shrugging as though it was no big deal. But Chloe disagreed. It  _was_  a big deal. Beca was a huge deal to Chloe, and her thoughtfulness was one of the many things Chloe adored about her. It filled the redhead with so much confidence that her baby really would have the most happiest of childhoods because Beca would be an amazing Mama to it, and an amazing co-parent for Chloe to combine with.

“Did you hear that, Bumble?” Beca said with a chuckle, grinning down at Chloe’s bump that rested beneath her hands, “Mama made Mommy speechless.”

And suddenly the baby kicked back against Beca’s hands again at the sound of her voice, causing Beca and Chloe to giggle happily once again.


	13. Instinct

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beca falls asleep in Chloe's lap...

Chloe kept her breathing short and shallow to keep noise to a minimum while her eyes remained on her best friend. Beca had fallen asleep with her head in Chloe’s lap around twenty minutes ago, her hand resting protectively over Chloe’s bump, just in case the baby decided to kick against it again. But from the feel of things, ‘Bumble’ had calmed.

The redhead’s bright blue eyes ran across Beca’s beautiful features. The splattering of light freckles she’d got from her exposure to the sun while walking to and from the subway stations/work/home over the past couple of months. Her eyeliner that had smudged a little when she’d sleepily rubbed her eyes once she’d settled earlier. And that hand. Chloe focused on Beca’s beautiful hand that rested on her baby bump.

She felt an overwhelming sense of calm and contentment in the studio apartment while the only sounds she could hear were of Beca’s steady heavy breathing, and her own heart beating. God she was  _so_  in love with her it hurt sometimes. This whole pregnancy so far was wonderful thanks to her, but it was also confusing.

Like, every night they would fall asleep together, Beca being the big spoon to Chloe’s little. They would wake up in the morning with Chloe usually tucked into Beca’s chest, having turned in the night. Beca had become accustomed to making Chloe a cup of tea before she went out to work, and she would say goodbye to  _both_  Chloe and the baby when she left the apartment for the day. Then Chloe would find herself thinking about Beca nonstop throughout the day - daydreaming about how wonderful their life was going to be together once the baby had arrived. And how  _different_  it was going to be too.

Chloe swallowed loudly, then reached out and delicately smoothed her fingers through Beca’s long brown hair. After a couple of slow swipes, her best friend let out a drowsy hum of approval, a small smile appearing on her face while she mumbled, “Mmmats nice..”

This was definitely the side of Beca that nobody was exposed to. The soft side of Beca. The side of Beca where she curled up on the bed with her best friend and dozed while happily allowing her hair to be played with. Chloe felt very lucky. And a very strong surge of emotion. But not the kind where she could burst into tears at any moment.

No. Seeing Beca laid asleep on her lap, with her baby bump nestled between them, had Chloe feeling a huge surge of protective maternal instinct. Not only for her unborn baby but for Beca too, the woman who would be helping her raise this baby.

“Come on, Babe.” Chloe whispered, nudging her best friend gently, “Let’s brush our teeth and go to bed.”

And Beca let out a soft groan while dragging her groggy body off Chloe, off the bed, and over to the ‘bathroom’ area of the studio apartment..


	14. Ice Cream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beca, Chloe & The Bellas have a picnic in Central Park...

The sun beat down on Central Park towards the end of July, and Beca and Chloe were sat on a large picnic blanket with their best friends. The Bellas had all agreed to come up to NYC to celebrate Chloe’s birthday which was now far from the booze-up her previous birthday gatherings always had been. Still the same company, but there was a tonne of picnic food laid out between them, and this year Chloe was sporting a noticeable baby bump.

Twenty three weeks was the best week of her pregnancy yet in terms of aches, nausea, and energy. And as a form of celebration Chloe ate merrily from a huge bag of chips while laughing at a story that Aubrey told the group about the retreat she ran in Georgia. Beca’s eyes couldn’t draw themselves away from her best friend while the redhead continued to laugh, loving the way the skin around her eyes crinkled up with her nose, a nose that was boasting a huge array of freckles that helped radiate the warmth that her broad smile already provided the world.

It hadn’t gone unnoticed by the rest of The Bellas of course. The women had been on ‘Bhloe (Beca+Chloe) watch’ since college, having always sensed a connection between their co-captains that Beca and Chloe both seemed to have failed to recognise over the years. They all watched the way Beca smiled affectionately at Chloe, the way the brunette kept offering the woman water to keep her hydrated in the sun and adjusting the umbrella they kept up to provide shade so that Chloe was never exposed to the sun for long lengths of time. 

Chloe, of course, hadn’t really noticed Beca acting any differently towards her than she normally did. And that was probably how they had both missed one another’s cues when it came to trying to work out if the other might feel more for them than just friendship. Because they were just acting the way they normally did around/towards each other. But to The Bellas it was so blatantly obvious just how much Beca and Chloe adored one another. 

Beca saw the way her best friend became distracted by something over Aubrey’s shoulder and the brunette glanced in it’s direction to see what she had seen. Her eyes honed in on an ice cream stand across the green and Beca grinned to herself. Of  _course_  Chloe would notice an ice cream stand from this far away. It had been one of Chloe’s greatest cravings. Particularly anything banana flavored for some reason.

So she eased herself up onto her feet, her limbs no longer aching so much after getting used to the PT sessions she’d been having at work (Chloe had even commented on how good her muscles were looking the other day!). 

“Where are you going?” Chloe asked with a slight frown, but Beca just smiled knowingly down at her best friend.

“Don’t think I didn’t see the way you noticed that stand over there, Beale.” Beca said with a grin, before slowly walking away from the group towards the ice cream stand, checking her pockets for money before continuing on once she found some in her back pocket.

The Bellas all watched Beca go then turned back to Chloe with huge grins. Chloe hesitated as she saw their expressions, and she could already feel her cheeks flushing in embarrassment, “What?”

Her friends all giggled and talked to her in unison. Some saying how they could tell something was going on between the two of them. Some saying how whipped Beca was. Some saying how Chloe couldn’t  _possibly_  be that oblivious to how much she meant to Beca.

“Oh come on guys,” Chloe said once they’d finally quietened down, “nothing’s going on. We’re just best friends who happen to be having a baby together.”

“But you’d want to be more than just best friends, right?” Cynthia Rose asked with a curious grin and Chloe’s hesitation to the bold question had The Bellas all opening their eyes wide with delight, causing Chloe to hold her hands up at them to try to stop them from saying anything more.

“What I want doesn’t really matter in this case. We all know how flighty Beca can be and I don’t want to scare her off-”

Her sentence was cut off by The Bellas all talking at her in unison again about how Beca wouldn’t dare run, and how they were all fairly certain she felt the same way about Chloe as Chloe did about her. And while it was all very lovely to hear, Chloe just didn’t want to take the risk.

“Beca and I will always mean a lot to each other. But we’re not dating.”

-

Beca let out a sigh while standing in the long queue at the ice cream stand. She wasn’t overly keen on ice cream which was usually why there was so much left in the apartment - Beca never really ate it so there was plenty for Chloe whenever the redhead craved it. She  _had_ spied two flavors that her best friend would like though. So she decided she’d get both flavors, hanging onto one while Chloe ate the other, then offering  _her_  cone to the pregnant woman so Chloe wouldn’t miss out.

“Beca!” a voice rang out from the front of the long queue and the brunette looked over to see that Lisa, one of her work colleagues, was stood at the front, waving her over with a big smile. Lisa was a couple of years older than Beca but one of the few members at her work that Beca actually enjoyed working with. She understood Beca’s sarcasm and even contributed some sarcasm of her own to any conversation they had. “What are you having?” the redhead asked, motioning to the stall assistant who was busy compiling an ice cream cone for her.

So Beca stepped out of the queue and strode down to the front, joining Lisa with a smile, “Uh, one Banana and one Buttered Pecan.”

“You got it dude.” Lisa replied, turning back to the stall assistant and giving him Beca’s order.

-

Chloe felt her stomach flip and her heart sank as her eyes looked over at the ice cream stall and she watched her best friend walking over  _with another redhead_ , laughing at something the other woman was saying.

“Who the hell is that??” Fat Amy asked with a furrowed brow, and all The Bellas followed Chloe and Amy’s line of sight, their smiles all dropping when they saw Beca with some other redhead. The woman she was with had short cropped hair, was petite like Beca, but sported arms full of tattoos that upon closer inspection appeared to be of Disney characters.

“Hey guys, this is Lisa.” Beca said, making an immediate beeline for Chloe, and Lisa hovered nearby waiting to be invited into the group, but The Bellas made no attempt to say hello. Not even Chloe, who was usually the brightest and bubbliest of the women. Their eyes were all on Beca who had taken a seat beside Chloe again, holding up two ice creams and saying with a grin, “Left or Right?”

“Uh…right…” Chloe said, a little baffled at what was going on, both with the two ice creams and with the visitor Beca had brought over with her.

Beca handed Chloe the ‘Buttered Pecan’ flavored ice cream then scooted closer to her, turning to look up at Lisa then motioning to the space she’d made in the group for her, “Dude take a seat.”

Lisa moved awkwardly over to the space Beca had provided and the women all sat in silence for a few moments while Beca and Chloe (and Lisa) ate their respective ice creams merrily.

“So Lisa works at the same label as me in the city.” Beca explained, after receiving some cryptic looks from The Bellas, turning to the woman and shrugging, “Two floors below mine, right?”

“Right.” Lisa said, still somewhat confused by the frosty atmosphere, turning to Chloe, “You must be Chloe.”

Chloe swallowed loudly, pausing the consuming of her ice cream, “Um, yeah.”

The Bellas all watched as Lisa grinned at her, then nudged Beca with her elbow, “Beca talks about you  _all_  the time. You’re due in November right?”

A curious smile had slowly begun to grow on Chloe’s face as she looked at her best friend who was currently blushing, concentrating hard on the ice cream that she’d barely touched, “Yeah I am.”

“Beca talks about your unborn baby  _a lot_.” Lisa continued with a grin, much to The Bellas delight. Delight that quickly faded when Lisa reached out to squeeze Beca’s cheek gently. Because Beca didn’t often let people step into her bubble. But for she’d seemed to let  _her_. Chloe’s heart dropped at the sight of the interaction. Beca quickly cleared her throat, and began scrambling to her feet.

“Alright,” the brunette said, avoiding everyone’s gaze, “I forgot to get you guys an ice cream so…” and she began wandering off back over to the ice cream stand. Chloe gave it a few paces, then eased herself up to her feet to follow her best friend, her ice cream still in her hand while she waddled.

“I want Chocolate!” Fat Amy yelled her order over, hoping that her roommates had heard.

The Bellas all turned back to Lisa and squinted suspiciously at her. Lisa hesitated, suddenly feeling intimidated.

-

“So what’s the deal with you and Lisa?” Chloe asked once she’d finally reached Beca and they had joined the back of the ice cream queue (which was significantly shorter than it had been earlier and Beca was kicking herself for having not waited a little longer earlier).

“Wha-? There’s no deal between us.” Beca said, suddenly surprised. What had given Chloe that impression? Was it because Lisa was a redhead? Or had tattoos? Because  _Chloe_  was a redhead, and had a tattoo - she was the only one Beca had eyes for.

“She squeezed your cheek.” Chloe said seriously, her stomach knotting with nerves.

“She squeezes  _everyone’s_  cheek and it’s fucking annoying!” Beca grumbled. It  _was_ annoying when Lisa did that. That’s why Beca was so relieved she rarely had to work with her. That much contact would just be too much for her. She only really relished contact if it came from Chloe and Chloe alone. Her best friend had earned that right. 

“So you don’t want to date her?” Chloe asked sharply, looking at Beca but desperately wanting to tear her eyes from her best friend. Beca was everything to her, but it hadn’t crossed Chloe’s mind that perhaps  _she_  wasn’t everything to Beca.

“Wha-?” Beca said again, suddenly turning to Chloe and noticing an unusual expression on the woman’s face. God, was Chloe worried that she was going to leave her and the baby? That their best laid plans were about to be ruined all because Beca happened to bump into a work colleague? “ _No_  dude! Definitely not!”

The knot in Chloe’s stomach eased slightly, and she was surprised when Beca brought her free hand out and slid her arm around her waist, resting her hand on her hip, “You and this baby? You guys are my priority.”

A soft smile spread across both Beca and Chloe’s faces as they looked into each others eyes. It was impossible to understand how the two hadn’t made the first move yet. But they hadn’t. 

“Why haven’t you eaten any of your ice cream yet?” Chloe asked curiously while she nibbled at her own ice cream cone and Beca looked down at the melting ice cream in her hand. Crap. Why did she think it’d been a good idea to buy two ice creams for Chloe.

“I was actually going to offer this to you after you’d finished yours. It’s Banana.”

“Ooh my favorite!” Chloe squeaked with a broad smile.

“Yeah, I know. It’s a bit melted now though. Sorry.” Beca said, holding it up with a disappointed expression, but Chloe took it having just finished her own cone and shrugged.

“It’ll still be good.” she said simply, and Beca rolled her eyes in disbelief as Chloe attempted to suck at the melted ice cream. Her arm still remained around Chloe’s waist, and the redhead had snuck her arm around Beca’s. And the two best friends stood patiently in the queue to get the rest of The Bellas an ice cream each.

-

“Listen. Lisa.” Aubrey began, after the rest of The Bellas had spent a little too long glaring at the poor woman who had accidentally crashed the birthday picnic they’d been throwing for Chloe, “I’m not sure what you think you’ve got going on with Beca-”

“Uh..” Lisa began with some confusion.

“-but Chloe…she and Beca kinda have this thing which none of us fully understand yet because Beca’s terrible at explaining how she feels about Chloe but they’re having this baby together and-”

“Beca’s in love with Chloe.” Lisa interrupted suddenly, and The Bellas’ eyebrows all rose at the new information that they’d all suspected for a long while, “Yeah, she told me about a month ago after I asked her about the lock-screen photo on her phone.” 

They all knew the photo Lisa was referring to. The one of Beca and Chloe looking at one another wearing the shirts with “Mom 1″ and “Mom 2″ on them, with their arms around each others waists.

“Beca said that the photo was of her and her best friend from college who was now her roommate but Chloe had fallen pregnant and Beca had offered to help her through the pregnancy, with the birth, and with the baby once it was born as like another mother. And when I asked her if they were in a relationship she said she wished they were and that she was in love with Chloe but couldn’t be sure that she felt the same way.”

The group fell silent as they all looked at one another. This meant one thing and one thing only. Beca and Chloe were in love with one another, had no idea how the other felt, but that they were  _still_  going to raise a baby together. Like some weird, dysfunctional, yet perfect family.

“I  _had_  intended on asking Beca out for a drink but…well you just don’t mess with someone’s feelings when they’re in that deep for someone else that they’re so close to, you know?”

-

Beca and Chloe approached their friends, their hands full of ice creams, and they handed them out. Beca furrowed her brow as she noticed the missing person, “Hey, where did Lisa go?”

The Bellas all turned from their respective ice creams to Beca who was offering a hand to Chloe while the redhead eased herself back down onto the picnic blanket, smoothing a hand over her baby bump while Beca handed her a fresh Banana flavored ice cream (Beca had insisted Chloe throw the old one in the trash which Chloe had done reluctantly).

“She uh…” Fat Amy began, turning to her friends for help. They’d politely advised Lisa to leave, stating that her being there would only upset Chloe who was madly in love with Beca too, and as a consequence would upset the baby.

“She had to go.” Aubrey said honestly, and The Bellas all nodded in agreement while Beca just shrugged, busy tugging a couple of tissues from a small packet and handing them to Chloe who had ice cream running down her hand. 

Beca just chuckled affectionately at Chloe while Chloe grinned happily at her. And The Bellas watched it all, loving that they now knew the truth, even if Beca and Chloe didn’t know it themselves.


	15. Name

“Any thoughts of a name yet?” Chloe asked Beca out of the blue while the brunette laid flat on the bed beside her while Chloe remained sat up. Beca had been smoothing her hands over her bump trying to encourage the baby to move and kick her hand, but ‘Bumble’ was having none of it. It wanted to remain tucked up under Chloe’s rib cage, much to the mother’s discomfort.

“Hmm ‘ _Stubborn_ ’ is sounding like a tempting name at the moment.” Beca mumbled, propping her head up on her elbow.

“Just like her Mama then..” Chloe replied with a chuckle, and Beca looked up at her, in mock offence.

“Oi! Don’t forget who provides for you..” she warned, but a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips which eradicated any malice to the warning.

“How could I possibly forget?” Chloe said affectionately and the two best friends held one another’s gaze.

This had been happening a lot in the past four weeks since Chloe’s birthday picnic. The two of them holding each other’s gaze. Both secretly wishing the other would make a move so they could finally reveal their true feelings.

Beca desperately wanted to tell Chloe she was in love with her. Chloe desperately wanted to tell Beca that  _she_  was in love with  _her_. And Amy was having to go through the agony of knowing the truth while having to watch them hold these sorts of gazes.

_”I don’t think I can do this any more, Aubrey. I’m gonna have to tell them.” Amy said defiantly, pacing in the studio apartment on the phone to Aubrey while Beca and Chloe went out for an evening walk to help with Chloe’s heartburn._

_”Amy, you CAN’T tell them.” Aubrey said strictly down the phone, “For one thing they need to find out on their own. And for another, they probably wouldn’t believe you anyway.”_

_”Heyyy..” Amy whined with offence, but she knew Aubrey was right. She’d been teasing Beca and Chloe about their ‘special bond’ since college. That was why she’d insisted they share the fold-out bed when she moved in with them. To try to force them together. And it HAD kinda worked. They were now more together than they ever had been before. Just…they STILL weren’t properly together in a romantic relationship like she knew both of them desperately wanted to be._

_This was the worst form of torture._

“So that’s why I’m asking if you’ve thought of any names yet.” Chloe added after the pause.

“Why, because I provide for you?” Beca asked with a confused expression which only served to make Chloe chuckle again.

“No! Because we’re in this together. You’re this baby’s Mama. You should get a say in his or her’s name.”

Chloe’s twenty week scan had been and gone. Both women had been given the option of finding out the sex of the baby. Beca had initially wanted to find out but upon finding out that it wasn’t a 100% accurate reveal meant that she’d decided she didn’t want to know. And Chloe had decided long before the scan that whatever Beca had wanted she’d agree with. Even though deep down she’d desperately wanted to know the sex of her unborn baby..

“Well..” Beca began, sitting herself up a little more on her elbow, still smoothing her hand over Chloe’s baby bump, “..it’d need to be something that suited ‘Beale’.” She said thoughtfully, but Chloe scrunched her face up.

“Why?”

There was a pause while Beca snapped her gaze back up to Chloe’s again and the younger woman hesitated, “Because…it’s last name will be Beale? I mean we can’t just call it ‘Bella Beale’ or ‘Beatrice Beale’ or… ‘Justin Beale’.”  
Chloe winced slightly at the last suggestion, and Beca had immediately regretted saying it as the name had fallen out of her mouth, “Sorry. Terrible suggestion. I hate that name. Been working with Bieber for too long. It’s the only boys name I could think of.” The brunette rambled.

“Okay well..what if it was ‘Beale-Mitchell’?” Chloe suggested suddenly with a shrug, and this time it was Beca’s turn to scrunch her nose up.

“I don’t think Justin is good paired with either surname-“

“-No.” Chloe quickly interrupted while rolling her eyes, “I meant, what if our baby’s surname was ‘Beale-Mitchell’?”

The apartment fell silent again while Beca and Chloe looked down at the baby bump. ‘Bumble’ had kicked out at her hand the second Chloe had mentioned ‘Beale-Mitchell’ and Chloe let out a sigh of relief as her unborn baby squirmed around from beneath her ribs.

“I think Bumble likes that suggestion.” Beca said with a chuckle, bringing her face closer to Chloe’s bump and saying in an affectionate tone, “Huh, Buddy? Would you like to be a ‘Beale-Mitchell’?”

And Beca and Chloe both chuckled as their little ‘Bumble’ stuck what they suspected was a foot against Chloe’s stomach, the little lump appearing just by Beca’s pinky finger. The brunette brought her index finger up to ‘tickle’ the baby’s foot, and the little lump quickly shot back inside.

“We’ll take that as a yes then.” Chloe said with a grin, relieved that the baby had finally moved. She might  _actually_  get some sleep tonight!


	16. Changing Bag

Beca and Chloe wandered through the ‘Mother & Baby’ store, looking around and up at the tall shelving units and the goods stacked on them. It was the shopping trip they’d both been trying to avoid. Stroller shopping. Changing-bag shopping. Crib shopping. It was Beca’s worst nightmare. She had no idea where to start. Fortunately Chloe had been doing her research and currently had her Pinterest Board open on her phone.

“Okay…so I’m kinda looking for something like this,” Chloe said, holding her phone in front of Beca’s nose, stopping the woman in her tracks, “except at a more affordable price.”

“$35?? What, is it lined with gold or something?” Beca asked rhetorically, glancing at Chloe who was already a little hopeless while looking up at the tall shelving unit beside them at the Changing-bags. Beca was joking of course. Slightly. She couldn’t for the life of her understand how something so small could cost so much. But then she  _had_  heard that babies cost a lot. And she would genuinely do anything for Chloe.

“Ooh there’s something similar up there!” Chloe said brightly, pointing to something high up on one of the top shelves. Beca followed her best friend’s gaze and sure enough, something incredibly similar to what Chloe had saved on her Pinterest, was currently sat on the top shelf. A good three if not four times the height of Chloe.

“Hey, Amy? Would you go get a store assistant?” Beca asked, her focus still on the top shelf.

Fat Amy let out a heavy dramatic sigh while standing from a bottom shelf she’d been sat on nearby, dragging her heels like a toddler who had no choice but to be there, “Why do  _I_  have to go? Why can’t Chloe go?”

Beca turned to look at her roommate with a disapproving expression, “Nobody forced you to come here with us, dude. You tagged along because you assumed we’d be getting ice cream.”

Amy scrunched her face up as though she were about to protest but Chloe put her hands out towards the two women to try to end the disagreement, “Look,  _I’ll_  go-“

“-Nooo.” Amy said with a huge exhale of defeat, “I’ll go,” she grumbled, “but then we’re getting ice cream.” and she wandered off to search for a store assistant while Beca responded with a firm, “No promises.”

Chloe’s mouth dropped open and she looked disappointed but the moment Beca noticed she shook her head as though telling Chloe not to worry, “Only kidding. Obviously we’ll be getting ice cream.”

The two women stood side by side, looking up at the changing bag that Chloe seemed to have set her heart on.   
“I guess we could just go for this one?” Chloe suggested with a quiet voice, motioning to a grey and white Changing-bag at their eye-level that Beca would have one million percent chosen herself regardless of it’s cheap price and ease of accessibility. But it wasn’t what Chloe wanted. And as Beca looked at her best friend’s sad expression, she made a decision.

“Wha-?” Chloe began, her mouth dropping open again, this time in confusion as she watched Beca sling her satchel from around her body and chuck it on the ground at their feet. Beca appeared to shuffle her feet from side to side, looking up at the Changing-bag on the top shelf, high above them. And in an instant, Chloe knew exactly what her best friend was about to do.

“Beca, the store assistant will be here really soon. Amy will have-“ she tried to explain but Beca had already taken hold of one of the metal support bars of the shelving unit, and with a big heave, clambered quickly up onto one of the shelves.

“This is  _Amy_  we’re talking about here.” Beca said as she expertly pulled her petite body up the next shelf of the tall unit, already higher than Chloe, “And what’s more, a grumpy Amy.” And Beca climbed up onto the next shelf as though she’d been doing it all her life, “For all we know she’s left the store to get her own ice cream.”

“She’s more attentive than you give her credit for you know..” Chloe said, grimacing slightly as her best friend shimmied up the next shelf, now far higher than she’d ever wanted Beca to go. If the woman weren’t so high up, Chloe would’ve taken this time to appreciate just how strong and nimble Beca had become since starting her PT seasons a couple of months back. But she didn’t have the time or room in her brain to think that right now as her concern for her best friend increased. If something happened to her, Chloe would never be able to forgive herself.

Beca finally reached the top shelf and let out a sigh of relief. Her eyes came into contact with the Changing-bag and she had to admit, now seeing it up close, it would be perfect for ‘Bumble’. And it was  _very_  Chloe. She lifted it to check its weight then when she was satisfied that it wasn’t so heavy it would crush the mother of her baby, she held it out over the shelving unit.

“Heads-up Mommy!” Beca said, checking Chloe was ready to catch it, and the redhead held her hands up in preparation.

“Ready Mama!” Chloe called back up to her best friend, and she watched as the pastel yellow bag came flying down from the top shelf. The woman caught it safely and held it tight while she watched in some concern (and a touch of awe) as Beca shimmied down the tall shelving unit with ease. She landed beside Chloe with a sigh of success and the two women grinned at each other.

“Me Beca.” Beca said in a low voice proudly, acting and sounding like a caveman, “I provide for my woman and baby.”

Chloe giggled sweetly, her hand automatically smoothing over her baby bump. She loved it when Beca referred to her as ‘her woman’ or ‘her girl’ and the baby as ‘her baby’. She didn’t do it often, because they  _weren’t_  together romantically. And any time Beca did say it, she only ever said it in jest. But Chloe still enjoyed it.

“That’s the one, yeah?” Beca asked, slightly out of breath while she motioned to the Changing-bag in Chloe’s arms. It was the only one up there that had looked remotely like the one on Chloe’s Pinterest board. A pastel yellow bag with small cartoon bumblebees on.

“What would you do if I said no?” Chloe asked jokingly, and let out a chuckle when Beca sighed and began preparing herself to clamber back up to the top shelf, “I’m joking!” She added with a giggle, taking hold of Beca’s hand to keep her by her side. “This is definitely the one.”

“Wha-?” came a voice behind them and the two best friends turned to see Fat Amy arrive with a store assistant. Chloe and Beca looked at their roommate guiltily, then down at the Changing-bag.

“Uh..we got it Ames.” Beca said awkwardly, motioning to the Changing-bag in Chloe’s hand while Chloe bit her bottom lip, “Thanks anyway.”

Fat Amy turned to the store assistant, “Um, they’re lesbians so…you’ll have to excuse them.”

Beca and Chloe’s cheeks flushed pink at the label ‘lesbians’ and quickly dropped each other’s hands, neither wanting to make the other feel uncomfortable even though they both fancied the crap out of each other. The store assistant rolled his eyes and walked off. Amy, meanwhile, made her way over to her roommates while they looked down at the Changing-bag.

“All that? For  _that_?!” Amy said in a confused tone. She was no expert, but it wasn’t exactly  _amazing_.

“It’s what Chloe wanted.” Beca said with a shrug, looking up at her roommate and rolling her eyes when she saw Amy grinning at her. “What?”

“You’re so whipped.”

The three friends began walking to the end of the aisle, “I’m not whipped..” Beca mumbled, hating it when people pointed it out. Because she knew full well that she was. She  _loved_  Chloe and would do anything for her.

“Yeah, try telling that to the $65 Changing-bag.” Amy replied, causing Beca to reach out and take hold of Chloe’s arm to pull them all to a stop.

“How much??”


	17. Lost

Beca sat as far on the edge of her side of the bed as possible, feeling a little anxious. Chloe was in a terrible mood. She’d been slamming cupboard doors in the kitchen, looking for her favourite plastic yellow cup - even though Beca had just spent the past twenty minutes trying to find it. She’d snapped at Beca, telling her she was “useless” and that she’d “find it on her own”. But so far she’d had no luck.

Chloe’s bad mood wasn’t Beca’s fault and she knew this. She knew it was down to Chloe’s hormones and her difficulty sleeping at night because the baby was in uncomfortable positions in her womb and Chloe would get too hot and then too cold and Beca took up too much of the bed but then didn’t hug her enough and…  
…basically, when Chloe was in this mood, Beca could never win.

Suddenly Chloe froze, let out a loud sniff, then burst into tears in the middle of the kitchen. Her hands flew to her face, bawling into them. And Beca felt a lump in her throat, “Ahh crap.” she muttered under her breath, and got up from the fold-out bed.

Chloe felt horrible. She’d unnecessarily snapped at Beca, who only ever did everything in her power to please Chloe. She hadn’t slept properly in weeks. She had sweated so much in the past hour even though it was now late September that she wanted another bath but she didn’t have any energy to run said bath  _or_  to try to get into/out of it. And now she couldn’t find her favourite plastic Barden cup that she’d intended on filling with ice to snack on this evening.

Her body trembled in exhaustion and overwhelming emotion, but calmed when she felt a familiar hand smoothing tentatively across her back. Beca was too good to her. Chloe didn’t deserve her. Beca was… _everything_.

“Hey, dude…” Beca began in a low soothing voice, “…it’s gonna be okay.”

Beca didn’t want to stand too close to Chloe, particularly as the woman had told her off earlier for ‘stifling’ her. Though Beca had only been doing what Chloe had  _liked_  her doing last week: putting an arm around her shoulder while they sat up in their fold-out bed together in front of ‘Greys Anatomy’.

She watched as Chloe brought her hands down from her face and let her arms drop to her sides with a sigh, “I  _hate_  being pregnant.”

“No you don’t.” Beca replied quietly, taking the risk of going against what Chloe was saying, still smoothing her hand over her best friend’s back, “You just hate being pregnant today.”

Chloe sniffed, tears drying slowly on her freckled makeup-less face, and she turned to look at Beca with bloodshot eyes, “I feel gross.”

“Well you definitely don’t look gross.” Beca assured firmly, taking her hand from Chloe’s back, “You look beautiful.” A watery smile appeared on Chloe’s face as she rolled her eyes, but Beca wasn’t joking, “I’m serious! I bet there are millions of mothers all over the world who wished they could’ve looked this good at thirty one weeks.”

“I’m sweaty.” Chloe said with a grimace.

“So let me run you another bath.” Beca said with a shrug.

“But what if you run a bath then I decide I don’t want it?” Chloe blubbed slightly.

“Then I’ll have it instead.” Beca replied with a chuckle, “Nothing’s too much, Chlo. You know that.”

There was a pause as Chloe looked deep into Beca’s eyes and the brunette hesitated for a moment. Shit. Was that the wrong thing to say?? Was Chloe about to burst into tears again? Were they about to have a massive argument about nothing?

Suddenly Chloe dove forward and threw her arms around Beca’s neck, hugging her tight. It was a move that not only took Beca by surprise, but also had her wondering which part of what she said had caused such a reaction from the redhead.

Chloe buried her face into Beca’s neck, holding her tight, whispering “I dunno what I’d do without you.”

The hug was strategically a little awkward. Mostly because Chloe’s bump had grown in recent days, making it a little tricky for Chloe to wrap her arms properly around the petite woman. But after a couple of moments Beca smiled gently, then rested her hands on Chloe’s hips. Then she froze when she spotted something over Chloe’s shoulder.

“You’re never gonna believe this…” she said cautiously, and Chloe pulled out of the hug to follow Beca’s gaze.

There, stood on a small shelf above the kitchen sink, was Chloe’s yellow plastic cup. And in it were the three flowers that Beca had picked for her on the way home from work the other day.

Both Beca and Chloe let out small sighs, embarrassed that they’d looked so hard for it only for it to have been in front of their eyes the whole time. “Ah…” was all Chloe said, and Beca let out a small chuckle.

“I’ll run you a bath.” she said in an amused voice, stepping away from her best friend and over to the bath, pulling the shower curtain over and running the hot water into it. She knew how Chloe liked her baths. With plenty of hot water, bath salts  _and_  bubbles. It made the bath pretty messy once the water had drained away, but it helped the redhead relax, so Beca didn’t mind cleaning it afterwards.


	18. The Retreat

“Only six weeks to go!” Aubrey said in an excitable tone, stepping back from the hug that she’d given Chloe when her best friend had arrived at The Lodge of Fallen Leaves, “How are you feeling about it?”

“A little anxious,” Chloe confessed as she stepped into the beautiful log-cabin that Aubrey owned on the site, “but I can’t wait to finally meet this little nugget.”

Chloe, Beca, and Fat Amy had all driven down to the retreat that Aubrey ran for Chloe’s baby shower. The Bellas had all organised it initially as a surprise, but Beca of all people had ended up accidentally telling the redhead.

_”So I was thinking, as you’re hiring a car next week, maybe we should go on an impromptu road trip to Niagara Falls or something?” Chloe suggested eagerly, looking up from her iPad which had a thoroughly detailed road-trip plan on it that she’d been busy compiling over the past few days - Spotify playlists and all. But to her disappointment Beca seemed less than enthused._

_”I dunno if I could handle driving all the way to Aubrey’s Retreat AND Niagara Falls next week Chlo..” Beca said in a distracted voice while she frowned at something she was working on on her laptop._

_Chloe let out a small gasp and brought her full attention to her best friend, who was sat beside her at the kitchen table, “We’re going to see Aubrey next week??”_

_Beca immediately snapped her attention up from her laptop towards Chloe and her heart sank. Shit. She’d done SO well keeping this trip a secret from Chloe for weeks! And the brunette let out a groan, “Ugh! It was supposed to be a surpriiise!”_

_But Chloe didn’t seem to mind in the slightest. In fact, she let out a squeak, pulled herself up off her chair, and waddled around to her best friend to place a big kiss on her cheek, “It’s a HUGE surprise!!!” she exclaimed in delight, too busy looking at her phone so she could text Aubrey to notice a coy smile appear on Beca’s face thanks to the peck she’d just placed on her cheek._

Beca and Fat Amy were busy waiting outside for the rest of The Bellas to arrive (not that Chloe knew anything about that additional surprise), so Aubrey decided that now was the best time to probe a little. She wandered into the kitchen, filling the kettle with water while she smiled at Chloe, the redhead having followed her into the room and was now inspecting the photos on Aubrey’s fridge, smoothing her hand over her baby bump.

“So, how are things going with Beca?” Aubrey dared to ask while placing her kettle on the stove, enjoying the way Chloe hesitated. It’d been a good couple of months since Aubrey and The Bellas had found out from one of Beca’s work colleagues that Beca was in love with Chloe. And Aubrey knew for a fact that Chloe was  _still_  head over heels for Beca, and had been ever since college.

“Much the same as they usually are.” Chloe replied with a shrug, her fingers reaching out to pluck a photo from the fridge to inspect closer.

“Which iiiiis?” Aubrey continued, leaning against the work surface as Chloe paused, looking over at her.

“Um…she’s…” Chloe paused, not overly sure what to say. She and Beca were still best friends. Close as close could be. They cared deeply about one another. In six weeks time they’d be bringing a baby into the world and from then on they’d be raising it together.

“In love with you?” Aubrey helped, a soft smile on her face while she watched her best friend furrow her brow in confusion.

“Just because she’s helping me with my pregnancy-“

“-like a man would his wife.” Aubrey added, and Chloe couldn’t help the tut that fell from her mouth.

“-and will be present at the birth-“ Chloe tried to continue.

“-like a father present at the birth of his baby.”

Chloe rolled her eyes, waddling over to the kitchen table, ignoring what Aubrey was suggesting, “-and will be helping me raise this child-“

“-as though she were your wife.” Aubrey finished with a grin, her best friend glaring at her but with a twinkle in her bright blue eyes.

“-does  _not_  mean that Beca’s in love with me.” Chloe finished, a small smile appearing in the corner of her mouth. Because yeah, she’d love for it to be true. She’d love for all that to mean something. She’d love for all that to be proof that Beca was  _in love_  with her. But if she  _was_  in love with Chloe then why hadn’t she made a move? Or had at least brought it up in conversation or something?

Aubrey shrugged, turning to a cupboard to pull out several mugs, and began preparing some tea, “Well for what it’s worth it was her idea to organise all this. And she’s been texting me every Saturday for the past three months to make sure that I call you to check that you’re okay.”

Chloe sat up straight suddenly, “Hang on,” she began in a suspicious tone, “you didn’t call me because you wanted to know I was okay?”

“Well that had never been my intention,” Aubrey admitted, “because we text all the time, of course I knew that you were okay.” and the blonde turned to her best friend giving her a soft smile again, “But Beca wanted to make sure that I  _called_  you because apparently you love phone calls.”

“I  _do_  love phone calls.” Chloe quietly agreed, a fascinated smile spreading across her face.

“See, Beca knows you so well, Chloe. And she’s done  _so much_  over the months since you fell pregnant. Most friends wouldn’t change their entire life, wouldn’t drop everything to help their other friend raise a baby.”

The kettle began whistling and Aubrey poured boiling water into nine mugs, “Don’t get me wrong Chloe, I love you.”

Chloe watched as the blonde turned to look seriously at her, “But I’m not  _in_ love with you. Beca…she’s willing to change her entire life and everything in it  _for_  you. She’s willing to help you have this baby and to raise it  _with_  you as though it’s her own.”

Chloe found her breath catching in her throat as she watched a small smile grow on Aubrey’s face, “Take it from me, Chloe. Beca’s in love with you. You should do something about it.”

Suddenly the front door of Aubrey’s cabin sprung open and eight squealing Bellas tumbled into the place, calling out Chloe’s name. The redhead leapt to her feet as best as she could given her pregnant belly, and she waddled through to the front door in delight at the surprise.

As Chloe was engulfed in a massive group hug she noticed Beca cautiously stepping into the cabin behind their friends, a calm smile on her face, clearly pleased her plan had worked. And when Chloe caught her gaze, she found her heart skipping a beat.

It was like Chloe was seeing Beca for the first time. And what she saw and felt made her  _so_  happy.


	19. Wriggle

Beca wandered from the kitchen to the lounge of Aubrey’s cabin with a bowl of popcorn and froze on the spot. A curious expression wiped over her face as she saw her pregnant best friend sat on the couch and (somehow) all nine of their friends sat around her with at least one hand on her bump.

“Should I be worried or…?” Beca asked cautiously with a small smile on her face, but Chloe looked over at her with an amused smile of her own.

“They’re waiting for Bumble to move, but baby’s not having any of it.” Chloe whispered, as though the sound of her voice might distract the baby in her womb from it’s orders that The Bellas had been giving it ( _“Come on baby, just one liiiiittle kick.” Emily begged._ )

“It’s not fair.” Amy said with a sigh, standing up to stretch her legs that had started to lose circulation, “The baby always kicks for Beca!”

Beca scrunched her nose up slightly, as if expressing that this wasn’t true, while The Bellas all turned their heads to look at her hopefully. But Chloe of all people simply added with a soft expression, “The baby  _always_  wriggles whenever it hears Beca’s voice.”

There was a pause in the cabin while Beca appeared to shuffle a bit on the spot. She wasn’t one who overly enjoyed attention, but all The Bellas were now giving it to her while they kept their hands on Chloe’s bump.

“Well come on then!” Stacie said in an impatient voice, “Say something to get this baby a’wigglin’, Mitchell!”

Beca let out a heavy sigh, her head dropping for a moment, as though this was the last thing she wanted to do. But secretly she  _loved_  that the baby reacted to her voice so much. She hadn’t realised it moved whenever it heard her talking or singing until Chloe mentioned it the other week, the redhead giggling at intervals until Beca had asked her what she’d found so funny about her terrible day at work..

“Alright,” she muttered, placing the popcorn bowl down on a small table before wandering over to her friend’s whose hands were still on Chloe’s stomach. She glanced down at the bump, her heart beating a little faster than usual, and the cabin fell silent once again.

“Come on Bumble,” Beca said in a clear voice, “your Aunts really want to feel you moving and Mama can tell that Mommy’s getting a bit hot because they’re crowding her, so the sooner y-“

But Beca didn’t need to say anything more, because suddenly The Bellas all let out shrieks of delight, and Chloe let out a long giggle at their reactions. Beca’s eyes shot up to Chloe’s and she noticed the redhead’s bright blue eyes shining adoringly at her. The two mothers-to-be grinned at one another while their friends all shushed each other, their hands still on the bump.

“Do it again.” Flo said to Beca.

“What do you want me to say??” Beca asked the women, not overly sure what she could possibly say to get the baby moving again. Other than singing, which was alright to do when it was just her and Chloe. But with The Bellas all watching too? No way.

“Talk to it about Chloe.” Aubrey suggested, receiving a grin from Fat Amy and a hesitant glance from Chloe.

“I’m not talking to it about Chloe!” Beca said with a roll of her eyes, catching Chloe’s gaze before adding, “I’m not talking to it about you.”

“Oh come on. What’s the worst that could happen?” Cynthia Rose added.

“ _I could end up sounding sappy and accidentally tell Chloe via this baby that I’m in love with her, that’s what._ ” Beca thought to herself.

“You don’t have to say how you  _feeeeel_  about Chloe.” Fat Amy said with a teasing grin, and Beca could feel her cheeks go pink in embarrassment.

“Yeah, the baby doesn’t know what Chloe looks like?” Stacie added in agreement.

Beca looked from Stacie, to the rest of The Bellas who still had their hands on Chloe’s bump, then up to Chloe’s eyes. The redhead didn’t appear to be insisting that she speak, but she also didn’t appear to be insisting that she didn’t. So Beca let out a sigh and slowly moved a little closer to the group, directing her attention to the bump, wanting to get it all over with.

“Alright bud,” she began, in a clear voice, keeping her eyes on the nine hands on Chloe’s bump, “Mama here, and I’m gonna describe Mommy for you, because apparently if I don’t then your Aunts are never gonna let it go.”

A light squeak came from Jessica and she announced in a delighted tone that she felt a kick against her palm. The Bellas, all somewhat jealous, asked Beca to continue. That ‘it was working’.

“So…um…your Mommy has long red hair. A-And eyes. Big bright blue eyes. Pretty blue eyes. Two eyes.” Beca was getting a little flustered. She was terrible at giving people compliments like this. “And loads of freckles. Like,  _loads_. I tried to count them all once and I think I lost track at two hundred and thirty two.”

As Beca spoke, Chloe felt her baby squirming in her womb. The Bellas were letting out the odd excitable gasp here and there. But her entire focus was on her best friend, as Beca scratched the back of her neck nervously, trying to think of what to say next.

“And um..oh, thanks to you I’ve had to buy shares in banana flavored ice cream because that’s all your Mommy seems to crave.” Beca said, looking up at Chloe with an affectionate grin. The Bellas didn’t notice, too wrapped up in the sound of their own squeals while the baby wriggled and kicked against their hands. Chloe, however, was doing everything in her power not to burst into tears while she bit her bottom lip guiltily. Beca was so good when it came to tending to her every need. Including keeping a good consistent supply of banana ice cream in their freezer at home. “And I kid you not buddy, once you get out here into the big wide world you’re gonna be loved so hard you’re not gonna know what to do with yourself.”

More squeals of delight sounded, and plenty of laughter. And still, Beca and Chloe smiled softly at one another across the busy room. They always found each other somehow.

Chloe could feel her heart racing while her baby began to settle again, feeling the way it curled up and behind her rib cage again. Clearly the squeals had been too much for it, and Beca sensed the change in the baby’s position by the way Chloe moved on the sofa and winced slightly.

“Alright guys, time to back it up and give Chloe some space to breathe.” Beca said firmly, looking at her best friend with a touch of concern. It wasn’t uncommon for Chloe to become uncomfortable nowadays. And even though Beca still struggled to work out how to help her settle, she seemed to somehow always find a way.

The Bellas all sat back, huge smiles on their faces, and Beca could see the immediate relief this brought the redhead. Chloe let out a happy sigh while Aubrey held her cup of tea out to her.

“See, I told you the baby always moves for Beca.” Fat Amy said proudly, as though  _she_  had been the one to move the baby herself. But Beca just rolled her eyes while her friends all grinned over at her.

“That’s because Beca’s the baby-Mama.” Ashley said.

“And is always around the baby.” Jessica added, and The Bellas all nodded in agreement.

Beca could say nothing more. So she just shrugged, sighing in defeat, and took a seat on the floor opposite Chloe, trying to ignore the way the redhead was beaming at her.


	20. Gender Guess

“What do you reckon then Beca? Boy or girl?”

Beca looked up from the mammoth grid that had a bunch of baby names on - one per grid - and paused. She had no idea how the ‘baby name grid’ could be classed as a game (after all there was no way she and Chloe were going to be calling this kid ‘Snow’!) but she could see the entertainment in trying to predict if it would be a boy or a girl. The problem was, it was a  _huge_  risk.

Guess the correct gender and she’d forever have bragging rights. But guess the wrong gender and she’d be doomed. The Bellas would never drop it.

“Uh..I actually think it’s a girl.” she dared to utter, and The Bellas’ eyes all opened wide while they let out a chorus of “ooh!”’s. “Why? What did you guess, Chlo?”

“A boy.” Chloe said with a smile.

Oh great.

“Yeah I think a boy too.” Aubrey agreed.

Of course Aubrey would agree.

“Yeah and me.” Stacie nodded.

Traitor.

“Definitely a boy.” Jessica and Ashley said in unison.

What was happening here?

“You keep calling the baby a ‘dude’. I can’t  _not_  think of it as anything but a boy.” Emily added, and Beca saw Cynthia Rose, Flo, and Lilly all nod in agreement.

“So I’m the  _only_  person who thinks Bumble’s a girl??” Beca asked in surprise, her eyebrows raised in disbelief. But fortunately Fat Amy raised her hand.

“Actually, I think it’s a girl too.”

“ _Thank_  you Amy!” Beca said gratefully. Good ol’ Amy. Beca could always count on her support.

“You thought it was a boy too, Amy…” Chloe interjected, “Last week? When you were trying to ask me for some baby name suggestions?”

“Yeah no that was just for the grid game.” Amy said, motioning to the piece of card on Beca’s lap. “And is it me or is Bumble sounding like a really good unisex name?”

“No” Beca and Chloe said firmly in unison and Fat Amy brought her hands up in surrender.

Well..at least they were in agreement about that.


	21. I Love You's

Beca let out a heavy happy sigh of content. Her body was laid half way down the fold-out bed in Brooklyn, her head facing Chloe’s thirty nine week bump. Only one week left until due date.

Today Beca turned twenty six. And never in a million years had she ever imagined that at twenty six she would be on the cusp of motherhood. Nor that she wouldn’t have ever had to have gone through the hell of pregnancy and childbirth to get there. But Chloe was giving her that opportunity. And it truly was going to be the best ‘late birthday present’ ever.

Chloe smiled softly, her hand having found it’s way to Beca’s, just above her best friend’s head. The two lay peacefully in their quiet studio apartment, having had a busy day at a music festival on Coney Island. The redhead had pulled out all the stops for the woman, ensuring she had a birthday cake and a birthday card from her and ‘Bumble’. And Beca had insisted she  _hadn’t_  had to get her a gift but Chloe had made Beca a scrapbook of photos compiled from the years that they’d known each other, leaving the final page blank with nothing but the words “Our greatest adventure yet :)” at the bottom. The intention was to put a photo of the two of them together with their newborn on it.

Chloe  _had_  originally planned on telling Beca that she had a massive crush on her. That she was in love with her and that she wanted them to spend the rest of their lives together. But the redhead hadn’t found the confidence to do so. She just  _couldn’t_. There was still no guarantee Beca felt the same way, even though Aubrey had said it (and Aubrey was normally brutally honest).

“ _Steal my heart, and hold my tongue._  
 _I feel my time, my time has come._  
 _Let me in, unlock the door._  
 _I never felt this way before._ ”

Beca had begun singing softly to the baby through Chloe’s bump, smoothing her fingertips wistfully across Chloe’s skin, pausing at intervals whenever ‘Bumble’ kicked back. A relaxed smile was over Beca’s face, and Chloe felt sure she’d never felt more in love with her best friend then she did now.

“ _And the wheels just keep on turning._  
 _The drummer begins to drum._  
 _I don’t know which way I’m going._  
 _I don’t know which way I’ve come._ ”

A light chuckle fell out of Beca’s mouth when she saw a foot or an elbow of the baby pushing out from Chloe’s belly and shifting across slightly until Beca tickled it affectionately and it shot back in again.

“ _Hold my head, inside your hands._  
 _I need someone, who understands._  
 _I need someone, someone who hears._  
 _For you I’ve waited all these years._ ”

Chloe kept her focus on her best friend, trying to keep her tears at bay, feeling an overwhelming surge of emotion while Beca continued to sing the Coldplay song beautifully to their unborn baby. It seemed like a cruel twist of fate that they were both able to be this intimate and share such a precious time like this and  _still_  not be together romantically.

“ _For you I’d wait, ‘til Kingdom come._  
 _Until my day, my day is done._  
 _And say you’ll come, and set me free._  
 _Just say you’ll wait, you’ll wait for me._ ”

Beca froze when she heard Chloe sniff. She’d zoned out for a few moments, having stupidly forgotten her best friend was there for a moment. She’d been focussed on nobody but the baby swimming away mere inches from where she lay now. She was just so desperate to meet it now.

The brunette adjusted her body so she could look up at Chloe and she saw that tears had begun falling down her cheeks. Chloe swiped at the tears, smiling softly down at Beca, “Sorry.” she whispered, “I just love it when you sing to the baby.”

Beca just smiled gently back at her, “And I love singing to the baby.”

“It wriggles a lot when you do.” Chloe said with a chuckle, noticing the way their baby stuck another limb out, drawing Beca’s attention back to the bump and Beca chuckled too.

“So I see.” the brunette replied with a grin, getting her index finger and affectionately poking the lump until it shot back in again.

“I love you so much.” Chloe confessed, her heart racing as she smiled down at her best friend, and Beca just grinned back at her.

“I love you so much too, dude.”

But the way she said it wasn’t in a way that was quite as heartfelt and sincere as one who confessed true deep love would say. It was said in a casual tone. And it made Chloe’s smile fade slightly while Beca resumed her attention on the baby bump. God, Beca  _didn’t_  love her the same way she loved Beca. Aubrey had been wrong.

And it killed Chloe.

“And I love  _you_  so much too, little dude!” Beca cooed, “I cant wait to meet you so I can sing to you properly in person.”

Beca had to admit, on the outside she looked calm. But on the inside she was panicking. Big time. She’d just told Chloe she loved her. But not the way she’d always imagined she would do. She’d just… _said it_! Like, casually. And she was trying to replay it in her mind but she couldn’t remember the tone she’d used when she’d said to. Judging from Chloe’s reaction though, Beca  _hadn’t_  said it the way she’d always wanted to.

Fuck.

So Beca tried to make things a little better, placing a kiss on the next tiny lump that stuck out of Chloe’s tummy. But the damage was done. Chloe fell quiet, lost in her thoughts about how she could’ve possibly got it all wrong.

And before the two women could say anything more, Fat Amy barged into the apartment with a handful of helium balloons:

“Happy Birthday Shortsta-…ugh you’re not  _still_  singing to that bump!”


	22. Realisation

Beca stopped outside the door to her studio apartment, reaching out for the handle, ready to walk in. But she hesitated, then brought her hand back to her side.

Today was Chloe’s due date and exactly a week after Beca’s birthday.

Exactly a week since Beca had responded to Chloe’s soft “I love you so much” with a casual (dare she admit ‘amused’) “I love you so much too, dude.”.

Exactly a week since Beca had noticed Chloe’s smile drop at how casual Beca had sounded. As though the woman loved Chloe so much as a friend.

But Beca didn’t just love Chloe as a friend. She was  _in_  love with her. And she’d been kicking herself ever since that evening last week, wishing she’d sounded far more sincere when she’d told Chloe she loved her.

The tension between the two had been a little unbearable since, while they tiptoed around the reality of what had happened.

She’d had to get out of the apartment just now to clear her head, appreciating it might be one of the final times she could before Chloe gave birth. She’d listened to some music through her headphones. Had wandered over to the flower market to pick her best friend some flowers. And now she was here. Home.

And she was finally going to ask Chloe out. Now was one of the few opportunities that they had before this baby arrived. It was now or never.

So with one last deep breath, Beca strode into the apartment, stopping at the foot of the fold-out bed and placing her hands on her hips, “Okay, grab your coat Beale. We’re going on a date.”

But Beca froze when she saw Chloe curled up on their bed, a look of pain on her face. The brunette’s stomach dropped and she felt the colour drain from her face. She dashed to Chloe’s side, the flowers now a heap on the floor.

“Dude, wha-?”

“I think I’m having contractions.” Chloe groaned reaching out and squeezing her best friend’s hand tight, and Beca swallowed loudly.

This was it. Chloe was going into labor.


	23. Almost

Beca didn’t know  _how_  she was managing it, but she was because she was on some sort of auto-pilot. She’d left a note for Fat Amy on the woman’s pillow, on the kitchen fridge door, AND on the carton of orange juice IN the fridge to ensure the Australian knew where they were.

Then the second the Über had turned up, Beca and Chloe had got into the back of the vehicle and then they’d been off. Off to the hospital. Chloe’s groaning and wincing and breathing had increased steadily during that time. And all the while Beca had held her hand, listening for instructions the pregnant woman gave her. Trying not to openly panic even though she was freaking out inside, constantly wondering if she’d remembered to lock the apartment door.

They’d been whisked into a room the moment they’d arrived in the maternity department and that was where they’d been for near-on four hours. Still no baby. And still no sign that Amy had found their notes.

“I can’t do this any more.” Chloe mumbled with a little whine at the end, fidgeting uncomfortably. Beca had been worried when her best friend had said this while moving like that a couple of hours ago. But the moment she’d been quietly told by their midwife that it was normal, Beca had stopped worrying.

Beca hadn’t left her side, and reached up to smooth her hand in small circles over Chloe’s back, “You can totally do this Chlo. You’re one of the strongest women I know.”

Chloe turned to look at Beca, her bottom lip stuck out with a worried expression that, had she not been in so much pain Beca would’ve actually have found adorable, “And you promise you won’t leave me?”

“I’ll never leave you.” Beca assured seriously, raising her eyebrows to emphasise her point, “We’re in this together, remember?”

Beca wasn’t entirely sure when she and Chloe had begun gripping one another’s hands, but they were, now sat side-by-side on the edge of Chloe’s hospital bed. Everything had been such a whirlwind getting here from the second Chloe had told Beca she suspected she was having contractions that neither woman had had an opportunity to brush their hair or change their clothes from the ones they’d been wearing all day. Beca had the most basic of makeup on and Chloe wore none.

And yet in that moment, the two best friends looked deep into each other’s eyes and felt as though nobody was as beautiful at the person sat with them. Beca found her gaze drifting down to Chloe’s lips while the redhead bit her bottom lip thoughtfully. Chloe noticed, and looked down at Beca’s lips too.

Again, stuck in such an intimate moment, except this time the two women slowly began leaning their faces towards one another. Their hearts raced in time with one another, both stunned that this was happening. That they were both desperate for the feel of the others lips on theirs.

Then suddenly Chloe winced, scrunched her face up, and Beca immediately knew what that meant. Another contraction.

“Just breathe through it, babe. You’re doing great.” Beca hushed, smoothing her hand across Chloe’s back again while a long low groan fell out of her best friend’s mouth. Chloe leant her forehead on Beca’s and squeezed her eyes shut. She just wanted this all to be over.


	24. Birth

There was so much noise and chatter and movement happening in the small delivery room that Beca had no idea where to stand or what to do or say. She felt like a fish completely out of water. In the middle of a desert. Panicking somewhat. Her hand had been glued to Chloe’s since the woman had been instructed to start pushing. But the second she caught sight of the midwives heads peering over Chloe’s parted knees with big smiles on their faces, exclaiming that she didn’t need to be pushing for too much longer as the baby was almost here, Beca began to feel a little light-headed.

Chloe’s body felt as though it was in overdrive, her urge to push subsiding for a couple of brief moments, listening to the strict instructions of the midwives who told her to stop pushing until her next contraction. Apparently her baby’s “head was out”. But in that moment of ‘calm’, Chloe suddenly felt her best friend’s hand slipping from hers and she turned just in time to see Beca’s eyes roll into the back of her head, and the brunette crumple into a heap on the floor. She’d fainted.

“Beca!” Chloe shrieked out in concern, but a midwifery assistant (a big woman with a no-nonsense attitude but a kind smile) strode over to the petite woman and pushed her into the recovery position on the floor, chuckling slightly.

“She’ll be alright.” was all Chloe heard and the redhead rolled her head back onto her pillow. That was it. With Beca out of sight there was definitely no way she could do this now.

“Okay a contraction is about to come Chloe. Final push. Are you ready?” One of the midwives by her feet asked but Chloe shook her head, panic beginning to settle over her.

“No! I can’t do it! I can’t do it any mooore!” she wailed, bringing her hands to her face. She could feel a surge of pain building in the lower half of her body, and knew this was it. That it was the final hurdle of her labour. But she couldn’t do it. There was no  _way_  she had the strength to do this without Beca. “I need Becaaaaa..” she cried.

Suddenly a groggy voice mumbled beside her, “‘m’ere Chlo.” and the redhead felt a pair of small cool clammy hands take hold of hers and pull them from her face. Chloe’s eyes met Beca’s, and though the brunette’s eyelids were somewhat hooded from the daze she’d just awoken from, Chloe saw warmth and strength and encouragement in her deep blue eyes.

So with one final deep breath, and one final strong push, Chloe battled through her panic and fear, drowning out all the voices in the room except for Beca’s. And all she could hear was her best friend repeating in an encouraging tone, “Keep going, keep going, keep going…”

A loud chorus of coos were heard, while Chloe felt a huge surge of relief wash over her lower body. And that was when she knew this ordeal was finally over. She immediately looked between her legs to gauge the midwives’ reactions, desperate to finally see her baby and check that it was alright.

Beca, meanwhile, was stunned, the room suddenly filling with the sound of a high-pitched wail unlike anything she’d ever heard before. Her attention had immediately snapped over to Chloe’s knees, wondering at what point she was finally going to see their baby.

“Beca, what do we have?” Chloe asked, her hand still gripping her best friends. But Beca was frozen to the spot, her ears ringing with the sound of the baby’s cry. It had a good set of lungs on it that was for sure.

“A-A baby.” Beca stuttered in disbelief, ignoring the way the health care staff in the room chuckled at her response.

“I meant do we have a boy or a girl?” Chloe added in a tired yet slightly amused tone, and Beca saw one of the midwives smiling kindly at her, silently beckoning her over.

Beca reluctantly dropped Chloe’s hand and cautiously approached the bottom of the bed. Then suddenly her eyes clasped onto the tiny wriggling figure of Chloe’s baby. A clear sign of dark hair on its head and its tiiiny eyebrows. And she felt a lump in her throat.

Chloe’s eyes remained on Beca. Her best friend. The woman she’d been secretly in love with for years. And her heart skipped a beat when she saw a broad goofy smile wash over Beca’s face.

“It’s a girl.”

Beca almost felt as though she were watching herself announce it in some sort of ‘out of body’ experience. And she turned to look at Chloe just as their baby was held up by the midwives.

Chloe burst into tears the second she caught sight of her newborn baby. And Beca burst into tears at the sight of Chloe’s reaction.

They were instantly besotted by their daughter. And they were so madly in love with each other too.


	25. First Hold

The midwives immediately swaddled ‘Bumble’ in a warm towel and took her over to Chloe, the new mother laid out exhausted on her hospital bed. Beca still stood in stunned silence, a grin on her face, her eyes not tearing from the newborn once. She found herself slowly walking to Chloe’s side, tears still falling from her eyes while her best friend was handed her newborn for the first time.

Chloe hadn’t stopped crying since her daughter had been born and the moment she felt the little weight on her chest, she brought her arms around her little girl. She could sense Beca approaching, felt her best friend slide one arm behind her neck, and saw the other arm join hers around the little bundled. And in that moment Chloe felt her heart swell.

“She’s finally heeere!” she wailed.

Beca hadn’t stopped crying, tears still rolling down her face as she leant across the bed to hold Chloe and ‘Bumble’ in her arms. And it wasn’t until now that Beca realised what this all meant. This was what life was all about. This…this was her  _family_. Her tiny little family. Wrapped in her arms.

Chloe felt her best friend lean her forehead on her temple, mumbling, “I’m  _so_ proud of you, Chlo.” And the redhead turned to look at Beca with a tired smile. She was proud of her too.

The two women shared a quick peck on the lips before turning back to their newborn baby, neither really processing what they’d just done. Because suddenly their baby stopped wailing, and finally settled in Chloe’s arms.

“Any idea on a name yet, Mommy?” One of the midwives asked.

Chloe and Beca paused, turning to look at one another in stunned silence. They still had absolutely no idea what to call their daughter..


	26. Name

The delivery room was quiet. Finally an air of peace and calm surrounding the three humans within it. Chloe lay in her hospital bed, with her one hour old baby in her arms. Beside her, laid on the edge of the bed with them, was Beca.

Baby ‘Bumble’ let out a yawn, a tiny squeak leaving her little mouth as she scrunched her tiny nose up. And her mothers let out small chuckles while they watched her. Nothing in this world meant more to them now than this tiny human. This tiny human that they  _still_  needed to name.

“How about Aubrey?” Chloe suggested quietly, wanting to provide some part of her oldest friend’s name into her daughter’s name.

Beca paused. She remembered growing up how one of her friends had the same name as her Aunt and as a result had to be called ‘Junior’ because it used to get so confusing. She didn’t want her daughter to be plagued with the nickname ‘Junior’ - though at the rate that things were going, this baby was going to be nicknamed ‘Bumble’ no matter what.

“Your hesitation is enough of a ‘no’.” Chloe added, letting out a light chuckle before looking down at her daughter again who was snoozing away against her chest.

“It’s not that I hate the idea of naming her after your best friend. After all, Aubrey has been incredible to us over the past nine months.” Beca tried to reason in a soft voice, not wanting to disturb the baby, “It’s just I’m worried it’ll get confusing if we end up calling out for our daughter and immediately get Aubrey responding.”

‘Our daughter’. It still felt weird and wonderful to hear Beca say that, and a content smile still remained over Chloe’s face. Just as it still felt weird and wonderful to be experiencing this intimate moment with the woman. Yet  _another_  intimate moment. They were starting to rack them up.

“What about Bree?” Beca suggested, and Chloe turned to look up at her as though it was the greatest idea in the world, “It would be a way of including Aubrey in the name without using her whole name. It’s short and snappy. Would be easy for her to spell when she got older-“

“-I love it.” Chloe interrupted, and the two women paused, looking into each other’s eyes in adoration before turning to look down at the newborn.

“Bree Beale-Mitchell.” Chloe whispered, and their daughter stretched the little fingers of her right hand out. So Beca stuck her pinky finger into the little palm and ‘Bumble’ curled her little fingers around it.

“We’d better get Amy’s name in there too, or we’ll never live it down.” Beca added with a grin and she saw Chloe nod gently out of the corner of her eye.

“Bree Amy Beale-Mitchell.” Chloe whispered, and a small smile drifted onto the tiny baby’s face while she slept, causing her mothers to both let out gentle chuckles. “Did you want to announce it to the girls?” Chloe added, not tearing her gaze from her daughter, but directing it at Beca, and the brunette shuffled her position slightly to pull her phone from her pocket:

_BELLAS FOR LIFE WHATSAPP_

**BECA:**   _[Beca sent a photo]_

 **BECA:**   _Welcome to the world, Bree Amy Beale-Mitchell._

Chloe smiled as she read the text over Beca’s arm, loving the sight of the photo her best friend shared that the midwife had taken earlier. Of her and Beca, grinning with tear stained faces, Beca with her arm around Chloe while Bree lay peacefully in Chloe’s arms. Their first family photo.

Beca locked her phone screen and the two women resumed their focus on the tiny bundle in their arms. Their minds drifted back to the hectic several hours they’d just endured. It was a wonder they were both still awake, having not slept in over twenty four hours. Then suddenly something crossed Beca’s mind, and she furrowed her brow while still looking down at the newborn.

“Did…did we  _kiss_  earlier?”

Chloe also furrowed her brow for a moment. God, they did..didn’t they? It had all been a bit of a whirlwind, with hormones shooting around the place that she hadn’t really had any time to process it. But they  _had_.

And as Chloe slowly turned to look up at Beca, she realised her best friend was already looking back at her. Their brows unfurrowed and soft affectionate smiles drifted onto their faces. Beca saw the way Chloe’s chest had begun rising and falling a little quicker than earlier, their daughter moving up and down with it, and the brunette found her eyes gazing down longingly at Chloe’s lips once again.

Chloe was already there, her attention fully drawn to Beca’s mouth that hung open slightly in anticipation. And the two best friends hadn’t realised how close they’d already been laying together until the tips of their noses brushed against one another’s. They could feel each other’s breath on their faces, and they both smiled softly, Beca leaning back ever so slightly to look into Chloe’s eyes and check that what they were about to do was okay. She saw nothing but love and acceptance and adoration in those bright blue eyes. And so with one final deep breath, Beca nudged her face forward, and captured Chloe’s lips with her own.

It were as though every day that had existed before now was non and void. As though all moments that had gone before had only ever been leading to this very moment now. And Beca’s heart felt fuller than it ever had done before. Because she was  _finally_  kissing Chloe and Chloe was kissing her back.

They both inhaled heavily through their noses as the kiss deepened, their tongues creeping into one another’s mouths, and lapping at the insides of their lips. Drawing the love and intimacy out from within their very souls.

Beca was hooked. Besotted. Head over heels in love with Chloe, and this kiss sealed the deal for her. There was no way she was  _ever_  going to leave her and Bree. Ever.

Chloe, who had always been head over heels in love with Beca from almost the moment she’d first seen her, was now very much affirmed that those feelings had always been the right ones to have. So she sighed into the continuing kiss, completely content, adoring the way Beca’s hand (that had been around her shoulders) now drifted into her thick red hair soothingly.

Their kiss broke gently, and the two women sighed happily, gasping for air slightly as they parted by an inch or so. Big goofy grins were spread over their faces and they couldn’t help the chuckles that fell out of their mouths.

“That was nice.” Chloe said in a soft tone, thrilled to have finally kissed her best friend. It had been a long time coming.

“You don’t regret it?” Beca checked in a soft tone of her own, though she could tell from the expression on Chloe’s face that she didn’t.

“No, do you?” Chloe replied, a slight air of caution to her glance, but to her relief Beca let out a content sigh and a calm smile.

“Definitely not.”

And as Beca leant her head face back towards Chloe’s, nudging the tip of her nose with her own, the sound of Beca’s phone chimed and the two women were snapped out of their love-bubble.

**_BELLAS FOR LIFE WHATSAPP_ **

**EMILY:**  OH EM ACA-GEE!! She’s BEAAAUUUUTIFUL!!! *heart-eyes emoji*

 **LILLY:**  Congratulations ♥

 **AUBREY:**  Oh you guys she’s BEAUTIFUL ♥ congratulations and I can’t wait to see all three of you very soon *blow-kiss emoji*

 **STACIE:**  CONGRATS YOU GUYS ♥♥♥

 **CYNTHIA ROSE:**  Congratulations!! Does this mean that you guys are finally together??

 **STACIE:**  They definitely LOOK together ;)

 **FLO:**  Hot Mamas ♥ congratulations you two *blow-kiss emoji*

 **FAT AMY:**  I CAN’T FIND YOU GUYS!!!

 **JESSICA:**  Congratulations Bhloe *blow-kiss emoji*

 **ASHLEY:**  Congratulations Bhloe *blow-kiss emoji*

 **ASHLEY:**  (low-key gutted she’s not called ‘Bumble’ though - I was really starting to like that name)

 **STACIE:**  Hold on..

 **STACIE:**  ‘Bree’

 **STACIE:**  You know what that means..

 **CYNTHIA ROSE:**  They named their daughter after Aubrey?

 **STACIE:**  WE CAN CALL HER ‘BUMBLEBREE’!! ♥*bumblebee emoji*

 **EMILY:**  Oh my God that’s adorable!! *bumblebee emoji*

 **FLO:**  YES *bumblebee emoji*

Beca grinned as she glanced softly at Chloe and they both turned from one another down to their daughter. Smiling down in affection at their newborn.

‘Bumblebree’.

The most perfect nickname ever.


	27. Careful

“Ugh thank  _God_  I’ve been looking for you guys  _everywhe_ -“

Fat Amy stopped in her tracks when she barged through the door of Chloe’s delivery room. Her eyes immediately latched onto the sight of her two roommates, sat up on Chloe’s bed, making out while the redhead held her sleeping newborn in her arms.

The two women promptly parted and Beca was so stunned by the sudden appearance of the Australian that she not only let out a little yelp, but also fell off the bed. Chloe winced slightly, having imagined it would happen the second she’d felt Beca break their kiss, and she peered over the edge of the bed nervously, “Beca! Are you okay?” She whispered, her expression that of a woman fully concerned, but with a tone low enough that it wouldn’t disturb her daughter.

Beca eased her body off the floor with a forced voice, “Yep. Yeah I just…love collapsing onto this floor.”

Fat Amy wasn’t really processing what was being said between her two friends. Instead she still stood stunned at what she’d just walked in on. Beca and Chloe had been  _kissing_!  _Heavily_! And a massive grin swept onto her face as Beca and Chloe turned back to her, their respective lips swollen from the ferocity of their kiss.

“So you guys  _are_  together!” she cried out excitably but the two mothers quickly hushed the woman, indicating to Baby Bree who was still miraculously sleeping in Chloe’s arms, exhausted from the ordeal of being born.

“When did this happen??” Amy whispered, moving towards the bed with an over-exaggerated ‘creep’, while Beca re-perched beside Chloe on the hospital bed. Beca and Chloe both shared an affectionate glance before turning back to their roommate with a shrug.

“About an hour ago.” Beca admitted, not overly sure why timings were so important. Yeah it was about an hour ago when they’d finally decided on their daughter’s name. And it was shortly after that they’d shared a long meaningful kiss. Since then neither woman had spoken about who they were to each other or what they were together. They’d just relished in the peaceful moment of being ridiculously in love with one another, enjoying the  _very_ early days of making out with each other, while taking frequent breaks between kisses to stare down adoringly at their baby.

“Oh my God-“ Fat Amy began, wearing an excitable expression on her face.

“-please don’t make this weird.” Beca mumbled under her breath as Amy stepped over to Chloe’s other side.

“-I’m certain life can’t get much better than this-“ Amy continued, becoming wrapped up in her emotions.

“-you’re gonna make this weeeeird..” Beca warned, following Amy with her eyes.

“-you two finally sharing saliva while Chloe’s baby looks exactly like you, Beca!”

Beca closed her eyes in embarrassment, “Too late.” She muttered, “You made it weird.”

Fat Amy was hopping from foot to foot, looking down eagerly at the newborn, “Can I hold her?”

Chloe and Beca both hesitated, then looked to one another. It hadn’t occurred to Beca that other people might want to hold their baby. She wasn’t sure she was ready to start handing her over. She was enjoying this peaceful moment with just her gir-… _Chloe_ …and their baby. But Chloe managed to scoop her baby up with a tired smile and began handing her over to Amy.

“Careful.” Beca said in a soft worried tone, “Don’t…don’t drop her…” the brunette’s heart was in her throat. She could envision clumsy old ‘bull in a china shop’ Amy, accidentally tripping over and dropping Bree. God it would be the worst. Chloe would be distraught. Beca would be in pieces. And their baby would-

“Please Amy,” Beca begged in a whisper, “Please, please be careful!”

“You don’t need to worry,” Amy said as she reached out for Baby Bree, “I’ve got this.”

Chloe watched her daughter like a hawk while she placed her in her roommates arms, a groggy squeaky grunt falling from the little baby’s mouth. She could hear a small whimper sounding from the back of Beca’s throat and it filled her with even more love than her heart was already holding. Because Beca was  _so_  protective of this baby already. It was adorable.

But to the surprise of both the mothers Fat Amy seemed like more of a pro holding a baby than either of them had. And the blonde grinned while gently rocking the newborn from side to side, hushing her softly. Beca and Chloe looked to one another with confused expressions then looked back at their roommate, who simply rose her eyebrows at them.

“My Mother was a foster carer. I grew up around babies and kids. I told you guys you had nothing to worry about.”

And the three women cooed over the newborn while Bree let out a small squeaky yawn, then settled back down again. Beca swallowed loudly as she watched Amy be a total natural with this baby, and she felt a slight tinge of jealousy.  _She_  wanted to hold her daughter again. And then it hit her. With Amy still living with them, once they got home Beca would need to share the baby’s attention with the Australian too.

A fog descended over Beca’s body, tears springing up into her eyes. What if she wasn’t good enough? What if Bree would only settle in Amy’s arms and not hers? What if her ‘daughter’ preferred the company of her Auntie Amy? What if Chloe didn’t need her any more because Amy would be so good with Bree? What if them kissing just now had been an ‘in the moment’ kind of thing? A surge of hormones on Chloe’s behalf? What if she decided it had been a mistake after all?

“Hey.”

The gentle voice tugged Beca back into the room, and the brunette realised she’d zoned out so much, Fat Amy was now stood by the window showing a sleeping Bree the view outside (“This is your kingdom. Everything the light touches is yours now.”). Chloe had faced her, and both her hands were squeezing the hand that Beca had in Chloe’s lap.

“Everything okay?” Chloe asked, her brow furrowed slightly in concern.

“What if I’m not a good Mama?” Beca mumbled vulnerably to Chloe, her eyes pouring into those beautiful bright blue orbs. “What if I screw things up with her and with you and-“

Her sentence was cut off by Chloe’s lips that had been thrown onto hers. She felt a surge of warmth rush over her body and the fog lifted.

“There’s no way you’ll screw things up.” Chloe said softly once their kiss had broken, looking up at Beca affectionately, “We’re in this together, remember?” Her fingertips ran soothingly up and down Beca’s forearm.

Beca let out a shaky sigh while a calm smile spread over her face, “I love you.” she mumbled, and Chloe’s face opened into a massive broad smile, nudging her nose against Beca’s.

“I love you too.”

They leant their faces close to share another kiss, which was quickly disbanded when an Australian drawl sounded from near the window.

“And Bumble, these are your Moms. Who claim they don’t like PDA but kiss in front of us anyway it seems…”

Beca found herself rolling her eyes as she and Chloe parted. Bree began to let out a little grumble. And while Amy strode towards Chloe to quickly hand the baby back, Beca felt a little disappointed. This was how it was going to be over the next however long they’d all be living together in their tiny studio apartment. She and Chloe would never really get any alone time.

And in an instant Beca felt like a total fool for having not told Chloe about her feelings sooner. Back in college perhaps. When they’d had time to be young and in love with very few responsibilities other than each other and Captaining The Bellas together..


	28. Mush

Beca sat up in the fold-out bed that she shared with Chloe in their studio apartment in Brooklyn. Normally by now they would be sat together watching something on Netflix. But tonight, Beca sat alone with her knees tucked up to her chest. The lights were off in the apartment and Fat Amy could be heard breathing heavily in the corner, now in a deep sleep.

But Beca couldn’t sleep. In her hands was her phone, and her face was lit by the light from the screen. A soft smile was on her face as she watched a video Chloe had sent her earlier. In the video their newborn smiled while resting on Chloe’s thighs. The volume on the phone was low so as not to disturb the Australian on the other side of the apartment, but the sound of Chloe chatting away to her baby could still be heard.

Beca was in some sort of drowsy haze. She’d hated leaving them at the hospital earlier, but rules were rules. No birthing partners were allowed to stay overnight. So the brunette had reluctantly left with Amy in tow.

_”I don’t wanna leeeave!” Beca mumbled against Chloe’s lips, having ducked over to her to give her a goodbye kiss. It caused a soft giggle to leave Chloe’s mouth which only made Beca all the more desperate to stay._

_”You’ve got to Becs. It’s the rules.” Chloe replied with a mumble of her own before placing another kiss on Beca’s lips. Their baby was now tucked in a small crib beside Chloe’s hospital bed and Beca was half considering tucking herself in there too so nobody would know she was there. She was pretty small.._

_”I’m gonna miss you.” Beca mumbled again, going in for one more kiss before letting out a small yelp when she felt someone behind her grab a fistful of her top and tug her away from Chloe._

_”Yeah, yeah we get it.” Fat Amy grumbled impatiently. She’d been going on about being hungry and wanting dinner for over an hour now, “But the sooner we go, the sooner the morning will come around and the sooner we can get back here to pick them up.”_

_”Bye Bumble.” Beca said, bending down to place a kiss on her sleeping daughter’s forehead, hardly able to believe she was finally here. Then she quickly leant over to kiss Chloe one last time too, “Bye. Love you.” she added with a whisper and a grin, loving the way her best friend beamed back at her._

Beca’s expression lit up when the video disappeared from her phone screen and the caller ID of her best friend and bed-mate popped up instead. She quickly answered it, her heart racing in excitement.

“Hey.” She whispered with a big grin, “How’s it been going?” Chloe looked tired, but was laying back in her hospital bed, with Bree laying on her front on the woman’s chest.

“Good. Tired, but good.” Chloe replied with a sleepy smile, “I was worried I was going to wake you.”

“No way. I told you I’d stay up in case you needed to call me.” Beca said in a determined tone, which only caused her best friend’s smile to broaden slightly.

“You’re amazing.” Chloe said with a content sigh and Beca reciprocated the sigh, a calm smile on her face. The apartment fell silent as the two women looked at one another through their phones, both yearning to be with the other, tucked up in their fold out bed together.

“Hey, look at our little mush.” Chloe said in an affectionate tone, and she moved her phone around so Beca could see Baby Bree. The sleeping newborn had her cheek on Chloe’s chest, the pudginess of which was squished so her little mouth smushed to one side. And Beca physically felt herself falling in love with her daughter again for the second time since the little one was born.

“Oh God.” The brunette replied, tears beginning to taint her eyes, “Ugh she’s  _so_  beautiful, Chlo.”

“Just the cutest huh.” Chloe replied with a light chuckle and Beca nodded.

“I can’t wait to have you guys home so I can put my arms around you both and fall asleep with you.” Beca confessed in a wistful tone, and Chloe looked at her sympathetically.

“I know. I can’t wait for that too.”


	29. Partner

Chloe wandered around her hospital room with a sigh. She’d been awake most of the night, dozing off here and there until any slight movement from her daughter woke her. She’d been staring at these same four walls for hours now and she was  _really_  ready to go home.

Beca had been ‘radio-silent’ since 6am which Chloe figured meant that her best friend had probably finally fallen asleep. It was now 8. Breakfast here had been okay but it had been hospital food so nothing short of acceptable. What she could really do with was a massive sesame bagel with smoked salmon and cream cheese and fresh chives and-

Chloe brought her hand to her stomach. God, she was hungry. She just wanted to go home.

Her bright blue eyes drifted down to the tiny body of her newborn - still feeling so light and new. A soft smile grew on Chloe’s face when she thought back on each time she’d FaceTime’d Beca through the night. The look on her best friend’s face whenever Beca clasped eyes on Bree had been some of the most precious moments in Chloe’s life. Beca clearly  _adored_  her daughter and the woman had only been around the newborn for a few hours of her life before she’d been sent home.

A light knock sounded at the door and Chloe turned to see who it was. A midwifery assistant entered, this time a far younger and more sheepish one. Chloe sensed that she was probably new.

“Um, Ms Beale?” the young woman asked, and Chloe nodded, “Your partner’s been waiting in reception for you, can I let her through?”

“Oh God yes!” Chloe replied probably a little quicker than she would’ve liked. She didn’t want to seem desperate or as though she’d been imprisoned here against her will, “Why didn’t she come up here sooner?”

The M.A.’s cheeks flushed pink slightly when she paused midway through leaving the room and she cleared her throat, “Um, it’s policy that Mothers are given peace over breakfast hours? But she’s been here for so long I think the senior midwives have taken pity on her.”

The young woman left the room and an amused smile swept over Chloe’s face. As if that woman just called Beca her ‘partner’. And as if she herself had confirmed it so casually. Chloe had waited  _years_  for Beca to like her as more than a friend. Had hoped beyond all hope that it would happen.

And it had…right?

They hadn’t confirmed it officially. They hadn’t sat down and discussed it. They’d just…made out a bit during those wonderful tranquil moments after Bree had been born. Beca had told her she loved her and Chloe had told Beca she loved her too. That was it right? All the confirmation they needed from one another.

But Chloe didn’t spend to much time dwelling over it because suddenly a rattling of the handle was heard and the redhead watched as her best friend tried to get through the door. Beca heaved the baby carrier into the room, along with a helium balloon with ‘ _It’s a Girl!_  printed on it, and a massive bouquet of flowers.

Chloe tried to keep her giggles at bay while the woman let out a huge sigh of relief, placing everything down on the hospital bed while mumbling, “You have no idea how awkward it was trying to get this over on the subway..”

The brunette had her back to Chloe, but raised a foil packaged up in the air, “I bet the hospital food was shit so…one salmon, cream cheese and chive bagel.” Chloe tried to catch her breath while a smile swept across her face. Beca just  _knew_  her. The brunette stepped back from the bed and turned to Chloe and Bree, a fresh smile on her face. A tired one, yes, but fresh for the day. She took a deep breath, as though she were finally starting that day, and beamed at her best friend, “Hey there!” she said in a calm airy tone which brought a warm safe rush over Chloe’s body. She hadn’t realised how much she’d missed Beca until now.

Beca stepped towards them, looking down at Bree with an eager (for Beca) expression, “Hey Bumble.” she whispered affectionately, “Have you been a good girl for Mommy?” And Chloe automatically placed their daughter in Beca’s arms without either of them communicating that that was what would happen.

It was unusual to see Beca so… _at ease_  with something. The petite woman was usually in her element sat in front of a mixing deck or her laptop, working away on a mix or new track. But at this very moment she was sure she’d never seen Beca look as natural as she did now, with their baby in her arms. It was as though something had been unlocked inside her brain and she just…knew how to do this. How to hold a baby even though she’d never really held one before.

“So, Mama actually got here two hours ago.” Beca said affectionately to her daughter, but Chloe could tell it was information for her. And she wondered if that was how most of their conversations would go from now on. Via Bree. “She couldn’t wait to see you and Mommy because home is really weird without Mommy there. And it’s gonna be even weirder once we get you there too.”

Chloe’s heart skipped a beat when she saw Beca’s head tilt up from their daughter to look at her. Beca had this soft smile on her face that Chloe had never really seen before and it took her breath away. She’d known the woman for over seven years, but there was so much about her she was still learning. Especially now they had a baby.

“Hey Mommy.” Beca whispered, looking down fleetingly at Chloe’s lips, and Chloe smiled.

“Hey Mama.” She whispered back.

And the two best friends leant towards one another and shared a soft kiss. The one they’d been craving for the twelve hours that they’d been apart.


	30. Lullaby

If Chloe hadn’t felt so tired she would’ve been impressed with the way Beca had lifted the baby carrier with such ease up all five flights of stairs up to their apartment. And if Beca hadn’t felt so tired she probably would’ve thrown a comment out to the stairwell that those private PT sessions she’d been having at work to prepare for this sort of situation had paid off. But the two women were absolutely exhausted, and they hadn’t even got home yet.

Bree was still sound asleep as they approached the door to her new home, and her Mama placed her carrier gently down on the floor while she fished her keys out to unlock the door. Her Mommy - whose arms were full from the bouquet of flowers and a helium balloon - didn’t look away from her daughter once, just in case something happened to the newborn (which was near-on impossible considering the baby was beautifully snuggled up in blankets in her carrier).

Beca pushed the door open and motioned for her best friend to enter the apartment first. And although every part of Chloe’s body was aching. Although her eyes naturally drew themselves to the fold-out bed, having become conditioned over the years to look for Beca even though she  _knew_ the brunette was behind her - Chloe’s attention was quickly drawn to a massive bouquet of flowers on the kitchen table, and  _loads_  of helium balloons strewn around the studio apartment. All pink. All with ‘ _Welcome Home Bree!_ ’ written on them.

“Oh Beca..” Chloe said in a content light tone. A tired yet wonderful smile drifted onto her face, and she turned to her best friend who was busy heaving the baby carrier and Chloe’s ‘labour bag’ through the door. But instead of grinning at the redhead knowingly, Beca froze, her mouth dropping open in shock at the amount of helium balloons in the place.

“Uh..” Beca began, slowly placing the carrier down on the floor beside their fold-out bed and the foot of the crib that the petite woman had painstakingly spent building earlier in the week just in case. “Yeah I didn’t do any of this.” She said awkwardly, confident that her daughter wasn’t in harm if she stepped the couple of paces it took for her to join her best friend and the two women looked around in shock at the state of their apartment.

“I definitely didn’t leave the apartment looking like this this morning.” Beca added when her eyes caught a large bedsheet that she suspected was theirs, hung up across the kitchen sink with the words ‘Welcome Home Bumblebree!” painted on it in what Beca feared was permanent paint, a painted bumblebee beside the words.

“No this definitely looks like an Amy-ism.” Chloe reassured, placing her hand on Beca’s shoulder in support. Their attention was drawn to their roommate’s bed just as the Australian jumped out at them from between a mass of pink helium balloons, yelling a massive “Surpriiiise!!!”

The mothers’ initial grins and eye rolls stopped the second they heard a high-pitched wail and all three women immediately turned to look at Bree, who was no long asleep in her carrier and was now crying loudly.

“Dude, you  _idiot_!” Beca grumbled at the blonde, whose smile had quickly dropped at the high-pitched screech coming from Bree as Chloe strode over to the newborn to scoop her out of the baby carrier.

Beca walked quickly away from Amy, her heart racing a little while she began to panic. Oh god, why was her daughter crying?? Yes, Amy had scared  _all_  of them just now, but it was over. There was nothing to be scared of any more!

After a couple of minutes of Chloe rocking and holding their baby, Bree still continued to cry, “Oh my God, why won’t she stop crying??” Chloe asked frantically, looking over at Beca anxiously.

“Wh-.. _I_  don’t know dude, I’m as new to this as you are!” Beca replied in an equally frantic voice, the sound of her daughter’s wails grinding against her patience

Fat Amy sat uncharacteristically quietly on the edge of her bed, watching sheepishly while Beca paced uncomfortably in front of Chloe who hushed and rocked Bree in her arms. This  _may_  have been her fault..

“Try the boob thing again.” Beca suggested, waving her hand in Chloe’s chest region and the redhead rolled her eyes then raised her eyebrows.

“You mean feeding her?”

“Yeah. Yeah that, try that.”

“Beca I’ve  _tried_  that! She’s not hungry!” Chloe responded, tears pricking her tired eyes while she looked down at the newborn in her arms. Oh God this was it. She couldn’t do it! She couldn’t be a Mommy because she couldn’t even comfort her own child. She was the one person in the world who should be able to do it and she couldn’t!

Beca had walked into another helium balloon and growled loudly in frustration, slinging it as far away from them as possible, then growling even louder when the balloon only drifted a few inches away from her, being replaced by another. That was when Amy knew it was probably her cue to leave the apartment. And maybe not return for a night or two..

“Uhhh..” she said in a high-pitched voice that was only just heard over Bree’s strong cry, “I thiiink I might go out for a bit.”

Beca and Chloe both looked at the Australian with furrowed brows, both clearly tired, and both clearly annoyed with her. This wasn’t her fault though. Bree was always going to cry. It just so happened she’d cried after Amy had surprised them. So the blonde quickly grabbed her handbag and scuttled out of the apartment.

The two best friends turned to one another, they held eye contact, and as though the departure of their roommate had been the trigger, they too burst into tears, joining their newborn daughter. They were exhausted and so  _so_ out of their depth. And Bree had only been alive for a day! How were they going to feel after a week? A month? A year? The next however many years after that?

“I’ve got no idea what else we can do!” Chloe wailed, “Her diaper’s clear. She’s not hungry. She’s not too hot or too cold. She won’t sleep.”

Beca shook her head, her ears already ringing from Bree’s cries while tears rolled down her own cheeks. Then suddenly her eyes caught something on their fold-out bed. A ‘Dumbo’ cuddly toy that Aubrey had bought for their unborn baby from the Disney store during her most recent visit to NYC.

“We should sing to her.” Beca said before letting out a shaky sigh. She turned back to Chloe and the redhead sniffed loudly.

“What?” She blubbed.

“We should sing to her. She always liked it when we sang while she was in the womb. Why not now?” Beca said clearly over their daughter’s wails.

Chloe shrugged, still rocking their crying baby, “Worth a try.”

Beca took a deep breath, and stepped closer to Chloe, snaking her left hand around the woman’s waist, then bringing her right hand up to stroke Bree’s forehead and cheek delicately.

 **”Baby mine, don’t you cry.  
 **Baby mine, dry your eyes.”****  
Beca began, not drawing her eyes from the baby once. She hoped beyond all hope that singing this song from  _Dumbo_  would work.

 **”Rest your head close to my heart”**  
Chloe chimed in, her soft voice seeming strong despite having only just cried.  **”Never to part, baby of mine.”**

The two mothers began singing together, wondering if their daughter actually  _was_  beginning to calm or if it was just in their heads.

**”Little one, when you play.  
 **Pay no heed what they say.  
 **Let your eyes sparkle and shine,  
 **Never a tear, baby of mine”********

Beca and Chloe began to slowly smile as they realised Bree  _was_  beginning to calm, her wails far less strained.

**”If they knew all about you.  
 **They’d end up loving you too.  
 **All those same people who scold you,  
 **What they’d give just for the right to hold you.”********

Bree’s crying came to a stop, and she began to settle. Beca and Chloe let out light chuckles when a small smile crept on their daughter’s little face.

**”From your hair down to your toes,  
 **You’re not much, goodness knows.  
 **But, you’re so precious to me.  
 **Sweet as can be, baby of mine.”********

The two mothers brought their lullaby to an end and let out quiet sighs of relief. The apartment finally fell silent. And they remained stood there for a couple of minutes just staring at their sleeping daughter.

“We’re gonna crush this parenting malarkey.” Beca whispered confidently, smoothing her hand in circles across the small of Chloe’s back, and the redhead nodded gently.

They both turned to look at one another, noting how the other had tired tear-stained faces, but with calm smiles.

“What the hell do we do now?” Chloe whispered, and Beca just shrugged.

“I guess you’ll just have to stand here and not move while I try and let down all these helium balloons.” She whispered, and a grin spread across both their faces.

“I’m kidding,” Beca added affectionately, leaning her face closer to Chloe’s nudging the tip of her nose with her own, “I’ll put the kettle on while you see if you can lay down with her and get some sleep.”

The two best friends shared a long and gentle kiss, their daughter still snoozing in Chloe’s arms. Neither of them knew what they were to one another - not officially. But in a way they understood that no matter what, they would always love one another and they would always love their baby.

Their little ‘Bumblebree’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading gang :) until the next Mini-Fic huh?  
> I've done a bunch of different ones now so do check them out if you haven't before..


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